CVE-2017-5972
HIGHEPSS 98th pctlDescription
The TCP stack in the Linux kernel 3.x does not properly implement a SYN cookie protection mechanism for the case of a fast network connection, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) by sending many TCP SYN packets, as demonstrated by an attack against the kernel-3.10.0 package in CentOS Linux 7. NOTE: third parties have been unable to discern any relationship between the GitHub Engineering finding and the Trigemini.c attack code.
How to fix
TridentStack Control can deploy fixes like this automatically across your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet. See how it works
Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.
CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
Very high risk: more likely to be exploited than 98% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-400 (Resource Exhaustion) vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2023-44487 | High | 7.5 | 100% | KEV | Fix |
| CVE-2021-44228 | Critical | 10.0 | 100% | KEV + Ransom | Fix |
| CVE-2011-3192 | High | 7.8 | 99% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2019-11478 | Medium | 5.3 | 93% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2023-21547 | High | 7.5 | 89% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2024-25617 | Medium | 5.3 | 89% | - | Fix |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2017-5972?
Upgrade linux on debian 11 to 4.4.2-1 or later.
Is CVE-2017-5972 being actively exploited?
Not that we know of. CVE-2017-5972 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 23.9% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 98% of all scored CVEs.
How severe is CVE-2017-5972?
CVE-2017-5972 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.5, rated high. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.
What does CVE-2017-5972 affect?
Published advisories record a fix for linux (Debian). Only products with a sourced advisory are listed, so treat this as what we can cite rather than a complete inventory.
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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2026-05-13.