Reliable Datagram Sockets (RDS) rds_atomic_free_op NULL pointer dereference Privilege Escalation

{
  "actions": [],
  "aliases": [],
  "arch": "x64",
  "author": [
    "Mohamed Ghannam",
    "Jann Horn",
    "wbowling",
    "bcoles <bcoles@gmail.com>",
    "nstarke"
  ],
  "autofilter_ports": [],
  "autofilter_services": [],
  "check": true,
  "default_credential": false,
  "description": "This module attempts to gain root privileges on Linux systems by abusing\n          a NULL pointer dereference in the `rds_atomic_free_op` function in the\n          Reliable Datagram Sockets (RDS) kernel module (rds.ko).\n\n          Successful exploitation requires the RDS kernel module to be loaded.\n          If the RDS module is not blacklisted (default); then it will be loaded\n          automatically.\n\n          This exploit supports 64-bit Ubuntu Linux systems, including distributions\n          based on Ubuntu, such as Linux Mint and Zorin OS.\n\n          Target offsets are available for:\n\n          Ubuntu 16.04 kernels 4.4.0 <= 4.4.0-116-generic; and\n          Ubuntu 16.04 kernels 4.8.0 <= 4.8.0-54-generic.\n\n          This exploit does not bypass SMAP. Bypasses for SMEP and KASLR are included.\n          Failed exploitation may crash the kernel.\n\n          This module has been tested successfully on various 4.4 and 4.8 kernels.",
  "disclosure_date": "2018-11-01",
  "fullname": "exploit/linux/local/rds_atomic_free_op_null_pointer_deref_priv_esc",
  "is_install_path": true,
  "mod_time": "2026-04-22 11:57:34 +0000",
  "name": "Reliable Datagram Sockets (RDS) rds_atomic_free_op NULL pointer dereference Privilege Escalation",
  "needs_cleanup": true,
  "notes": {
    "Reliability": [
      "repeatable-session"
    ],
    "SideEffects": [
      "unknown-side-effects"
    ],
    "Stability": [
      "crash-os-down"
    ]
  },
  "path": "/modules/exploits/linux/local/rds_atomic_free_op_null_pointer_deref_priv_esc.rb",
  "platform": "Linux",
  "post_auth": false,
  "rank": 400,
  "ref_name": "linux/local/rds_atomic_free_op_null_pointer_deref_priv_esc",
  "references": [
    "CVE-2018-5333",
    "CVE-2019-9213",
    "BID-102510",
    "URL-https://gist.github.com/wbowling/9d32492bd96d9e7c3bf52e23a0ac30a4",
    "URL-https://github.com/0x36/CVE-pocs/blob/master/CVE-2018-5333-rds-nullderef.c",
    "URL-https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=1792&desc=2",
    "URL-https://people.canonical.com/~ubuntu-security/cve/2018/CVE-2018-5333.html",
    "URL-https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=7d11f77f84b27cef452cee332f4e469503084737",
    "URL-https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=15133f6e67d8d646d0744336b4daa3135452cb0d",
    "URL-https://github.com/bcoles/kernel-exploits/blob/master/CVE-2018-5333/cve-2018-5333.c"
  ],
  "rport": null,
  "session_types": [
    "shell",
    "meterpreter"
  ],
  "targets": [
    "Auto"
  ],
  "type": "exploit"
}

{
  "actions": [],
  "aliases": [],
  "arch": "x64",
  "author": [
    "Mohamed Ghannam",
    "Jann Horn",
    "wbowling",
    "bcoles <bcoles@gmail.com>",
    "nstarke"
  ],
  "autofilter_ports": [],
  "autofilter_services": [],
  "check": true,
  "default_credential": false,
  "description": "This module attempts to gain root privileges on Linux systems by abusing\n          a NULL pointer dereference in the `rds_atomic_free_op` function in the\n          Reliable Datagram Sockets (RDS) kernel module (rds.ko).\n\n          Successful exploitation requires the RDS kernel module to be loaded.\n          If the RDS module is not blacklisted (default); then it will be loaded\n          automatically.\n\n          This exploit supports 64-bit Ubuntu Linux systems, including distributions\n          based on Ubuntu, such as Linux Mint and Zorin OS.\n\n          Target offsets are available for:\n\n          Ubuntu 16.04 kernels 4.4.0 <= 4.4.0-116-generic; and\n          Ubuntu 16.04 kernels 4.8.0 <= 4.8.0-54-generic.\n\n          This exploit does not bypass SMAP. Bypasses for SMEP and KASLR are included.\n          Failed exploitation may crash the kernel.\n\n          This module has been tested successfully on various 4.4 and 4.8 kernels.",
  "disclosure_date": "2018-11-01",
  "fullname": "exploit/linux/local/rds_atomic_free_op_null_pointer_deref_priv_esc",
  "is_install_path": true,
  "mod_time": "2026-04-22 11:57:34 +0000",
  "name": "Reliable Datagram Sockets (RDS) rds_atomic_free_op NULL pointer dereference Privilege Escalation",
  "needs_cleanup": true,
  "notes": {
    "Reliability": [
      "repeatable-session"
    ],
    "SideEffects": [
      "unknown-side-effects"
    ],
    "Stability": [
      "crash-os-down"
    ]
  },
  "path": "/modules/exploits/linux/local/rds_atomic_free_op_null_pointer_deref_priv_esc.rb",
  "platform": "Linux",
  "post_auth": false,
  "rank": 400,
  "ref_name": "linux/local/rds_atomic_free_op_null_pointer_deref_priv_esc",
  "references": [
    "CVE-2018-5333",
    "CVE-2019-9213",
    "BID-102510",
    "URL-https://gist.github.com/wbowling/9d32492bd96d9e7c3bf52e23a0ac30a4",
    "URL-https://github.com/0x36/CVE-pocs/blob/master/CVE-2018-5333-rds-nullderef.c",
    "URL-https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=1792&desc=2",
    "URL-https://people.canonical.com/~ubuntu-security/cve/2018/CVE-2018-5333.html",
    "URL-https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=7d11f77f84b27cef452cee332f4e469503084737",
    "URL-https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=15133f6e67d8d646d0744336b4daa3135452cb0d",
    "URL-https://github.com/bcoles/kernel-exploits/blob/master/CVE-2018-5333/cve-2018-5333.c"
  ],
  "rport": null,
  "session_types": [
    "shell",
    "meterpreter"
  ],
  "targets": [
    "Auto"
  ],
  "type": "exploit"
}