HIGH

CVE-2019-6974

CVSS v3

8.1

HIGH

EPSS Score

16.5 %

exploit probability, as of 2026-10-19

CISA KEV

known exploited

Exploitation

—

SSVC status

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Affected and fixed versions

Packages from OSV.dev and products from the vendors' CSAF advisories.

version not verifiedVersions not verified: read as OSV.dev and the vendors publish them, not checked against each vendor's release list.

Vendor advisories

CVE-2019-6974 Red Hat Product Security430 products fixed
Kernel: KVM: potential use-after-free via kvm_ioctl_create_device()
RHSA-2020:0103 Red Hat Product Security94 products fixed
Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel security and bug fix update
RHSA-2019:3967 Red Hat Product Security111 products fixed
Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel security and bug fix update
RHSA-2019:2809 Red Hat Product Security26 products fixed
Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel-alt security, bug fix, and enhancement update
RHSA-2019:0818 Red Hat Product Security165 products fixed
Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel security and bug fix update
RHSA-2019:0833 Red Hat Product Security30 products fixed
Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel-rt security and bug fix update

Full record on NVD

Description

In the Linux kernel before 4.20.8, kvm_ioctl_create_device in virt/kvm/kvm_main.c mishandles reference counting because of a race condition, leading to a use-after-free.

Technical details

Published: 2019-02-15
Exploit-DB: EDB-46388

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2019-6974?

In the Linux kernel before 4.20.8, kvm_ioctl_create_device in virt/kvm/kvm_main.c mishandles reference counting because of a race condition, leading to a use-after-free.

Is CVE-2019-6974 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2019-6974 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 16.5% on 2026-10-19, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2019-6974?

CVE-2019-6974 has a CVSS v3 base score of 8.1 (HIGH severity).

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