Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This is a local Linux kernel denial-of-service issue in machine check handling. An already-root local user could cause a kernel panic by writing to a machinecheck check_interval sysfs file. The sources do not show remote exploitation, privilege escalation, or CISA KEV listing, and the CVE record notes a dispute about security relevance.
Executive priority
Treat this as low business urgency unless critical systems still run old Linux kernels or have weak administrator controls. It is not a remote compromise issue in the provided evidence, but kernel panic risk still matters for high-availability infrastructure.
Technical view
CVE-2018-7995 describes a race condition in store_int_with_restart() in arch/x86/kernel/cpu/mcheck/mce.c through Linux 4.15.7. The reported trigger requires local root access to write check_interval under /sys/devices/system/machinecheck/machinecheck<cpu>. Impact is denial of service via panic; affected distro packages are referenced by Debian and Ubuntu advisories.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most plausible on older Linux systems running kernels through 4.15.7 or distro kernels covered by the 2018 Debian and Ubuntu advisories. Because triggering requires local root access to a sysfs machinecheck control, exposure is mainly host stability risk after administrative compromise or misuse.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not indicate active exploitation, KEV inclusion, public weaponization, remote access, or privilege escalation. The described condition requires local root privileges and causes a panic. The CVE text also states that a third party considered the report not security relevant.
Researcher notes
Key uncertainty is scope: the CVE lists generic affected products as n/a, severity is unknown, and the report is disputed for security relevance. Validate against downstream vendor kernels rather than assuming upstream version numbers map directly to distro package status.
Mitigation direction
- Apply relevant Debian or Ubuntu kernel security updates where applicable.
- Check your Linux distribution's kernel advisory for CVE-2018-7995 coverage.
- Prioritize retirement or update of kernels at or below Linux 4.15.7.
- Restrict administrative access to hosts and monitor sysfs machinecheck changes.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Linux kernel versions across servers and endpoints.
- Check distro package changelogs for CVE-2018-7995 fixes or advisories.
- Identify systems exposing /sys/devices/system/machinecheck paths to administrators.
- Confirm no affected hosts remain outside normal kernel update policy.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CVE-2018-7995 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- DSA-4187CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_DEBIAN
- USN-3654-1CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_UBUNTU
- https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1084755CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/tip.git/commit/?id=b3b7c4795ccab5be71f080774c45bbbcc75c2aafCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- DSA-4188CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_DEBIAN
- https://lkml.org/lkml/2018/3/2/970CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- USN-3654-2CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_UBUNTU
- [debian-lts-announce] 20180502 [SECURITY] [DLA 1369-1] linux security updateCVE reference · mailing-list, x_refsource_MLIST
- USN-3656-1CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_UBUNTU
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.