Linux: Use After Free
CVE-2024-26944 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8 out of 10. It can be exploited with local access to the system by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. The record lists versions 34ca809e055eca5cfe63d9c7efbf80b7c21b4e57, 1ec17ef59168a1a6f1105f5dc517f783839a5302 as the first without the flaw, so updating Linux to one of those releases or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.24% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Update Linux to 34ca809e055eca5cfe63d9c7efbf80b7c21b4e57 or 1ec17ef59168a1a6f1105f5dc517f783839a5302, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
- Update Linux Kernel to 6.8.3 or a later version.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 4dcbb8ab31c1292aea6a3f240e19523f633320c2 up to, but not including, 34ca809e055eca5cfe63d9c7efbf80b7c21b4e57; 4dcbb8ab31c1292aea6a3f240e19523f633320c2 up to, but not including, 1ec17ef59168a1a6f1105f5dc517f783839a5302; 5.18 | 34ca809e055eca5cfe63d9c7efbf80b7c21b4e57, 1ec17ef59168a1a6f1105f5dc517f783839a5302 |
| Linux | Linux Kernel | 5.16 up to, but not including, 6.8.3; 6.9 | 6.8.3 |
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- LocalThe attacker needs local access or must trick a user into running something.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- LowA basic user account is enough.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
- Confidentiality
- HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
- Integrity
- HighData or code can be modified at will.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by NVD.
| Scoring system | Score | Severity | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | 7.8 | High | CNA |
| CVSS 3.1 | 7.8 | High | NVD |
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: zoned: fix use-after-free in do_zone_finish() Shinichiro reported the following use-after-free triggered by the device replace operation in fstests btrfs/070. BTRFS info (device nullb1): scrub: finished on devid 1 with status: 0 ================================================================== BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in do_zone_finish+0x91a/0xb90 [btrfs] Read of size 8 at addr ffff8881543c8060 by task btrfs-cleaner/3494007 CPU: 0 PID: 3494007 Comm: btrfs-cleaner Tainted: G W 6.8.0-rc5-kts #1 Hardware name: Supermicro Super Server/X11SPi-TF, BIOS 3.3 02/21/2020 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x5b/0x90 print_report+0xcf/0x670 ? __virt_addr_valid+0x200/0x3e0 kasan_report+0xd8/0x110 ? do_zone_finish+0x91a/0xb90 [btrfs] ? do_zone_finish+0x91a/0xb90 [btrfs] do_zone_finish+0x91a/0xb90 [btrfs] btrfs_delete_unused_bgs+0x5e1/0x1750 [btrfs] ? __pfx_btrfs_delete_unused_bgs+0x10/0x10 [btrfs] ? btrfs_put_root+0x2d/0x220 [btrfs] ? btrfs_clean_one_deleted_snapshot+0x299/0x430 [btrfs] cleaner_kthread+0x21e/0x380 [btrfs] ? __pfx_cleaner_kthread+0x10/0x10 [btrfs] kthread+0x2e3/0x3c0 ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 ret_from_fork+0x31/0x70 ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1b/0x30 </TASK> Allocated by task 3493983: kasan_save_stack+0x33/0x60 kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 __kasan_kmalloc+0xaa/0xb0 btrfs_alloc_device+0xb3/0x4e0 [btrfs] device_list_add.constprop.0+0x993/0x1630 [btrfs] btrfs_scan_one_device+0x219/0x3d0 [btrfs] btrfs_control_ioctl+0x26e/0x310 [btrfs] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x134/0x1b0 do_syscall_64+0x99/0x190 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x6e/0x76 Freed by task 3494056: kasan_save_stack+0x33/0x60 kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 kasan_save_free_info+0x3f/0x60 poison_slab_object+0x102/0x170 __kasan_slab_free+0x32/0x70 kfree+0x11b/0x320 btrfs_rm_dev_replace_free_srcdev+0xca/0x280 [btrfs] btrfs_dev_replace_finishing+0xd7e/0x14f0 [btrfs] btrfs_dev_replace_by_ioctl+0x1286/0x25a0 [btrfs] btrfs_ioctl+0xb27/0x57d0 [btrfs] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x134/0x1b0 do_syscall_64+0x99/0x190 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x6e/0x76 The buggy address belongs to the object at ffff8881543c8000 which belongs to the cache kmalloc-1k of size 1024 The buggy address is located 96 bytes inside of freed 1024-byte region [ffff8881543c8000, ffff8881543c8400) The buggy address belongs to the physical page: page:00000000fe2c1285 refcount:1 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000 index:0x0 pfn:0x1543c8 head:00000000fe2c1285 order:3 entire_mapcount:0 nr_pages_mapped:0 pincount:0 flags: 0x17ffffc0000840(slab|head|node=0|zone=2|lastcpupid=0x1fffff) page_type: 0xffffffff() raw: 0017ffffc0000840 ffff888100042dc0 ffffea0019e8f200 dead000000000002 raw: 0000000000000000 0000000000100010 00000001ffffffff 0000000000000000 page dumped because: kasan: bad access detected Memory state around the buggy address: ffff8881543c7f00: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ffff8881543c7f80: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 >ffff8881543c8000: fa fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb ^ ffff8881543c8080: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb ffff8881543c8100: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb This UAF happens because we're accessing stale zone information of a already removed btrfs_device in do_zone_finish(). The sequence of events is as follows: btrfs_dev_replace_start btrfs_scrub_dev btrfs_dev_replace_finishing btrfs_dev_replace_update_device_in_mapping_tree <-- devices replaced btrfs_rm_dev_replace_free_srcdev btrfs_free_device <-- device freed cleaner_kthread btrfs_delete_unused_bgs btrfs_zone_finish do_zone_finish <-- refers the freed device The reason for this is that we're using a ---truncated---
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Use After Free
The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory belongs to the code that operates on the new pointer.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Choose a language that provides automatic memory management.
- When freeing pointers, be sure to set them to NULL once they are freed. However, the utilization of multiple or complex data structures may lower the usefulness of this strategy.
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: partial).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Patches and release notes
Recent Use After Free vulnerabilities
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
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