--- title: "CVE-2014-1737\n | Ubuntu" description: Ubuntu is an open source software operating system that runs from the desktop, to the cloud, to all your internet connected things. url: https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2014-1737?format=md keywords: index, follow --- # CVE-2014-1737 Publication date 11 May 2014 Last updated 4 July 2026 --- Ubuntu priority **High** [Why this priority?](https://ubuntu.com/security/cves/about#priority ) Toggle side navigation ## Description The raw\_cmd\_copyin function in drivers/block/floppy.c in the Linux kernel through 3.14.3 does not properly handle error conditions during processing of an FDRAWCMD ioctl call, which allows local users to trigger kfree operations and gain privileges by leveraging write access to a /dev/fd device. First, raw\_cmd\_ioctl calls raw\_cmd\_copyin. This function kmallocs space for a floppy\_raw\_cmd structure and stores the resulting allocation in the "rcmd" pointer argument. It then attempts to copy\_from\_user the structure from userspace. If this fails, an early EFAULT return is taken. The problem is that even if the early return is taken, the pointer to the non-/partially-initialized floppy\_raw\_cmd structure has already been returned via the "rcmd" pointer. Back out in raw\_cmd\_ioctl, it attempts to raw\_cmd\_free this pointer. raw\_cmd\_free attempts to free any DMA pages allocated for the raw command, kfrees the raw command structure itself, and follows the linked list, if any, of further raw commands (a user can specify the FD\_RAW\_MORE flag to signal that there are more raw commands to follow in a single FDRAWCMD ioctl). So, a malicious user can send a FDRAWCMD ioctl with a raw command argument structure that has some bytes inaccessible (ie. off the end of an allocated page). The copy\_from\_user will fail but raw\_cmd\_free will attempt to process the floppy\_raw\_cmd as if it had been fully initialized by the rest of raw\_cmd\_copyin. The user can control the arguments passed to fd\_dma\_mem\_free and kfree (by making use of the linked-list feature and specifying the target address as a next-in-list structure). ### From the Ubuntu Security Team Matthew Daley reported a flaw in the handling of ioctl commands by the floppy disk driver in the Linux kernel. An unprivileged local user could exploit this flaw to gain administrative privileges if the floppy disk module is loaded. [Read the notes from the security team](https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2014-1737?format=md#notes) ## Status Show unmaintained releases | Package | Ubuntu Release | Status | | --- | --- | --- | | linux | 17.04 zesty | Not affected | | 16.10 yakkety | Not affected | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not affected | | 15.10 wily | Not affected | | 15.04 vivid | Not affected | | 14.10 utopic | Not affected | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Fixed 3.13.0-27.50 | | 13.10 saucy | Fixed 3.11.0-22.38 | | 12.10 quantal | Ignored end of life, was pending | | 12.04 LTS precise | Fixed 3.2.0-63.95 | | 10.04 LTS lucid | Fixed 2.6.32-60.122 | | linux-armadaxp | 17.04 zesty | Not in release | | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release | | 15.10 wily | Not in release | | 15.04 vivid | Not in release | | 14.10 utopic | Not in release | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release | | 13.10 saucy | Not in release | | 12.10 quantal | Ignored end of life, was pending | | 12.04 LTS precise | Fixed 3.2.0-1633.47 | | 10.04 LTS lucid | Not in release | | linux-aws | 17.04 zesty | Not in release | | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not affected | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not affected | | 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release | | linux-ec2 | 17.04 zesty | Not in release | | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release | | 15.10 wily | Not in release | | 15.04 vivid | Not in release | | 14.10 utopic | Not in release | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release | | 13.10 saucy | Not in release | | 12.10 quantal | Not in release | | 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release | | 10.04 LTS lucid | Fixed 2.6.32-364.77 | | linux-flo | 17.04 zesty | Not in release | | 16.10 yakkety | Not affected | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release | | 15.10 wily | Not affected | | 15.04 vivid | Not affected | | 14.10 utopic | Not affected | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release | | 13.10 saucy | Not in release | | 12.10 quantal | Not in release | | 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release | | 10.04 LTS lucid | Not in release | | linux-fsl-imx51 | 17.04 zesty | Not in release | | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release | | 15.10 wily | Not in release | | 15.04 vivid | Not in release | | 14.10 utopic | Not in release | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release | | 13.10 saucy | Not in release | | 12.10 quantal | Not in release | | 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release | | 10.04 LTS lucid | Ignored end of life | | linux-gke | 17.04 zesty | Not in release | | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not affected | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release | | 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release | | linux-goldfish | 17.04 zesty | Not affected | | 16.10 yakkety | Not affected | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release | | 15.10 wily | Not affected | | 15.04 vivid | Not affected | | 14.10 utopic | Not affected | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release | | 13.10 saucy | Ignored | | 12.10 quantal | Not in release | | 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release | | 10.04 LTS lucid | Not in release | | linux-grouper | 17.04 zesty | Not in release | | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release | | 15.10 wily | Not in release | | 15.04 vivid | Not in release | | 14.10 utopic | Ignored end of life | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release | | 13.10 saucy | Ignored | | 12.10 quantal | Not in release | | 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release | | 10.04 LTS lucid | Not in release | | linux-hwe | 17.04 zesty | Not in release | | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not affected | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release | | 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release | | linux-hwe-edge | 17.04 zesty | Not in release | | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not affected | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release | | 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release | | linux-linaro-omap | 17.04 zesty | Not in release | | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release | | 15.10 wily | Not in release | | 15.04 vivid | Not in release | | 14.10 utopic | Not in release | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release | | 13.10 saucy | Not in release | | 12.10 quantal | Ignored end of life | | 12.04 LTS precise | Ignored end of life | | 10.04 LTS lucid | Not in release | | linux-linaro-shared | 17.04 zesty | Not in release | | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release | | 15.10 wily | Not in release | | 15.04 vivid | Not in release | | 14.10 utopic | Not in release | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release | | 13.10 saucy | Not in release | | 12.10 quantal | Ignored end of life | | 12.04 LTS precise | Ignored end of life | | 10.04 LTS lucid | Not in release | | linux-linaro-vexpress | 17.04 zesty | Not in release | | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release | | 15.10 wily | Not in release | | 15.04 vivid | Not in release | | 14.10 utopic | Not in release | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release | | 13.10 saucy | Not in release | | 12.10 quantal | Ignored end of life | | 12.04 LTS precise | Ignored end of life | | 10.04 LTS lucid | Not in release | | linux-lts-quantal | 17.04 zesty | Not in release | | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release | | 15.10 wily | Not in release | | 15.04 vivid | Not in release | | 14.10 utopic | Not in release | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release | | 13.10 saucy | Not in release | | 12.10 quantal | Not in release | | 12.04 LTS precise | Fixed 3.5.0-51.76~precise1 | | 10.04 LTS lucid | Not in release | | linux-lts-raring | 17.04 zesty | Not in release | | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release | | 15.10 wily | Not in release | | 15.04 vivid | Not in release | | 14.10 utopic | Not in release | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release | | 13.10 saucy | Not in release | | 12.10 quantal | Not in release | | 12.04 LTS precise | Fixed 3.8.0-41.60~precise1 | | 10.04 LTS lucid | Not in release | | linux-lts-saucy | 17.04 zesty | Not in release | | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release | | 15.10 wily | Not in release | | 15.04 vivid | Not in release | | 14.10 utopic | Not in release | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release | | 13.10 saucy | Not in release | | 12.10 quantal | Not in release | | 12.04 LTS precise | Fixed 3.11.0-22.38~precise1 | | 10.04 LTS lucid | Not in release | | linux-lts-trusty | 17.04 zesty | Not in release | | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release | | 15.10 wily | Not in release | | 15.04 vivid | Not in release | | 14.10 utopic | Not in release | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release | | 13.10 saucy | Not in release | | 12.10 quantal | Not in release | | 12.04 LTS precise | Fixed 3.13.0-27.50~precise1 | | 10.04 LTS lucid | Not in release | | linux-lts-utopic | 17.04 zesty | Not in release | | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release | | 15.10 wily | Not in release | | 15.04 vivid | Not in release | | 14.10 utopic | Not in release | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release | | 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release | | 10.04 LTS lucid | Not in release | | linux-lts-vivid | 17.04 zesty | Not in release | | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release | | 15.10 wily | Not in release | | 15.04 vivid | Not in release | | 14.10 utopic | Not in release | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release | | 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release | | 10.04 LTS lucid | Not in release | | linux-lts-wily | 17.04 zesty | Not in release | | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release | | 15.10 wily | Not in release | | 15.04 vivid | Not in release | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release | | 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release | | linux-lts-xenial | 17.04 zesty | Not in release | | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release | | 15.10 wily | Not in release | | 15.04 vivid | Not in release | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not affected | | 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release | | linux-maguro | 17.04 zesty | Not in release | | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release | | 15.10 wily | Not in release | | 15.04 vivid | Not in release | | 14.10 utopic | Not in release | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release | | 13.10 saucy | Ignored | | 12.10 quantal | Not in release | | 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release | | 10.04 LTS lucid | Not in release | | linux-mako | 17.04 zesty | Not in release | | 16.10 yakkety | Not affected | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release | | 15.10 wily | Not affected | | 15.04 vivid | Not affected | | 14.10 utopic | Not affected | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release | | 13.10 saucy | Ignored | | 12.10 quantal | Not in release | | 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release | | 10.04 LTS lucid | Not in release | | linux-manta | 17.04 zesty | Not in release | | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release | | 15.10 wily | Not affected | | 15.04 vivid | Not affected | | 14.10 utopic | Not affected | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release | | 13.10 saucy | Ignored | | 12.10 quantal | Not in release | | 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release | | 10.04 LTS lucid | Not in release | | linux-mvl-dove | 17.04 zesty | Not in release | | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release | | 15.10 wily | Not in release | | 15.04 vivid | Not in release | | 14.10 utopic | Not in release | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release | | 13.10 saucy | Not in release | | 12.10 quantal | Not in release | | 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release | | 10.04 LTS lucid | Ignored end of life | | linux-qcm-msm | 17.04 zesty | Not in release | | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release | | 15.10 wily | Not in release | | 15.04 vivid | Not in release | | 14.10 utopic | Not in release | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release | | 13.10 saucy | Not in release | | 12.10 quantal | Ignored end of life | | 12.04 LTS precise | Ignored end of life | | 10.04 LTS lucid | Ignored end of life | | linux-raspi2 | 17.04 zesty | Not affected | | 16.10 yakkety | Not affected | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not affected | | 15.10 wily | Not affected | | 15.04 vivid | Not in release | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release | | 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release | | linux-snapdragon | 17.04 zesty | Not affected | | 16.10 yakkety | Not affected | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not affected | | 15.10 wily | Not in release | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release | | 12.04 LTS precise | Not in release | | linux-ti-omap4 | 17.04 zesty | Not in release | | 16.10 yakkety | Not in release | | 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release | | 15.10 wily | Not in release | | 15.04 vivid | Not in release | | 14.10 utopic | Not in release | | 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release | | 13.10 saucy | Fixed 3.5.0-242.58 | | 12.10 quantal | Ignored end of life, was pending | | 12.04 LTS precise | Fixed 3.2.0-1446.65 | | 10.04 LTS lucid | Not in release | --- * [How can I get the fixes?](https://ubuntu.com/security/cves/about#security) * [What do statuses mean?](https://ubuntu.com/security/cves/about#statuses) * [Patch details](https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2014-1737?format=md#patch-details) ## Notes --- ### [jdstrand](https://launchpad.net/~jdstrand) android kernels (goldfish, grouper, maguro, mako and manta) are not supported on the Ubuntu Touch 13.10 preview kernels android kernels (flo, goldfish, grouper, maguro, mako and manta) are not supported on the Ubuntu Touch 14.04 preview kernels ### Patch details For informational purposes only. We recommend not to cherry-pick updates. [How can I get the fixes?](https://ubuntu.com/security/cves/about#security) | Package | Patch details | | --- | --- | | linux | * Introduced by [1da177e](https://git.kernel.org/linus/1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2), fixed by [ef87dbe](https://git.kernel.org/linus/ef87dbe7614341c2e7bfe8d32fcb7028cc97442c) | ## References * [MITRE](https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2014-1737) * [NVD](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-1737) * [Launchpad](https://launchpad.net/bugs/cve/CVE-2014-1737) * [Debian](https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2014-1737) ### Related Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) + [USN-2220-1](https://usn.ubuntu.com/USN-2220-1) + Linux kernel (EC2) vulnerabilities + 26 May 2014 + [USN-2226-1](https://usn.ubuntu.com/USN-2226-1) + Linux kernel vulnerabilities + 27 May 2014 + [USN-2223-1](https://usn.ubuntu.com/USN-2223-1) + Linux kernel (Quantal HWE) vulnerabilities + 27 May 2014 + [USN-2260-1](https://usn.ubuntu.com/USN-2260-1) + Linux kernel (Trusty HWE) vulnerabilities + 27 June 2014 + [USN-2219-1](https://usn.ubuntu.com/USN-2219-1) + Linux kernel vulnerabilities + 26 May 2014 + [USN-2224-1](https://usn.ubuntu.com/USN-2224-1) + Linux kernel (Raring HWE) vulnerabilities + 27 May 2014 + [USN-2225-1](https://usn.ubuntu.com/USN-2225-1) + Linux kernel (Saucy HWE) vulnerabilities + 27 May 2014 + [USN-2221-1](https://usn.ubuntu.com/USN-2221-1) + Linux kernel vulnerabilities + 26 May 2014 + [USN-2228-1](https://usn.ubuntu.com/USN-2228-1) + Linux kernel vulnerabilities + 27 May 2014 + [USN-2227-1](https://usn.ubuntu.com/USN-2227-1) + Linux kernel (OMAP4) vulnerabilities + 27 May 2014 ### Other references *