CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2024-38586NVD status: Analyzed

Linux: Out-of-bounds Write

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2024-38586 is a high-severity out-of-bounds write 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 61c1c98e2607120ce9c3fa1bf75e6da909712b27, b6d21cf40de103d63ae78551098a7c06af8c98dd, 0c48185a95309556725f818b82120bb74e9c627d 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 0.25% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.

Next patch cycle

High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.

What to do

  1. Update Linux to 61c1c98e2607120ce9c3fa1bf75e6da909712b27 or b6d21cf40de103d63ae78551098a7c06af8c98dd or 0c48185a95309556725f818b82120bb74e9c627d or 68222d7b4b72aa321135cd453dac37f00ec41fd1, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
  2. Update Linux Kernel to 5.10.221 or 5.15.161 or 6.1.93 or 6.6.33, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
LinuxLinux9020845fb5d6bb4876a38fdf1259600e7d9a63d4 up to, but not including, 61c1c98e2607120ce9c3fa1bf75e6da909712b27; 9020845fb5d6bb4876a38fdf1259600e7d9a63d4 up to, but not including, b6d21cf40de103d63ae78551098a7c06af8c98dd; 9020845fb5d6bb4876a38fdf1259600e7d9a63d4 up to, but not including, 0c48185a95309556725f818b82120bb74e9c627d; 9020845fb5d6bb4876a38fdf1259600e7d9a63d4 up to, but not including, 68222d7b4b72aa321135cd453dac37f00ec41fd1; 9020845fb5d6bb4876a38fdf1259600e7d9a63d4 up to, but not including, 078d5b7500d70af2de6b38e226b03f0b932026a6; 9020845fb5d6bb4876a38fdf1259600e7d9a63d4 up to, but not including, 54e7a0d111240c92c0f02ceba6eb8f26bf6d6479; 9020845fb5d6bb4876a38fdf1259600e7d9a63d4 up to, but not including, c71e3a5cffd5309d7f84444df03d5b72600cc417; 5.761c1c98e2607120ce9c3fa1bf75e6da909712b27, b6d21cf40de103d63ae78551098a7c06af8c98dd, 0c48185a95309556725f818b82120bb74e9c627d, 68222d7b4b72aa321135cd453dac37f00ec41fd1, 078d5b7500d70af2de6b38e226b03f0b932026a6, 54e7a0d111240c92c0f02ceba6eb8f26bf6d6479
LinuxLinux Kernel5.7 up to, but not including, 5.10.221; 5.11 up to, but not including, 5.15.161; 5.16 up to, but not including, 6.1.93; 6.2 up to, but not including, 6.6.33; 6.7 up to, but not including, 6.8.12; 6.9 up to, but not including, 6.9.35.10.221, 5.15.161, 6.1.93, 6.6.33, 6.8.12, 6.9.3

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.

Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: r8169: Fix possible ring buffer corruption on fragmented Tx packets. An issue was found on the RTL8125b when transmitting small fragmented packets, whereby invalid entries were inserted into the transmit ring buffer, subsequently leading to calls to dma_unmap_single() with a null address. This was caused by rtl8169_start_xmit() not noticing changes to nr_frags which may occur when small packets are padded (to work around hardware quirks) in rtl8169_tso_csum_v2(). To fix this, postpone inspecting nr_frags until after any padding has been applied.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Out-of-bounds Write

The product writes data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • Use a language that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid. For example, many languages that perform their own memory management, such as Java and Perl, are not subject to buffer overflows. Other languages, such as Ada and C#, typically provide overflow protection, but the protection can be disabled by the programmer. Be wary that a language's interface to native code may still be subject to overflows, even if the language itself is theoretically safe.
  • Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid. Examples include the Safe C String Library (SafeStr) by Messier and Viega, and the Strsafe.h library from Microsoft. These libraries provide safer versions of overflow-prone string-handling functions.
  • Use automatic buffer overflow detection mechanisms that are offered by certain compilers or compiler extensions. Examples include: the Microsoft Visual Studio /GS flag, Fedora/Red Hat FORTIFY_SOURCE GCC flag, StackGuard, and ProPolice, which provide various mechanisms including canary-based detection and range/index checking. D3-SFCV (Stack Frame Canary Validation) from D3FEND discusses canary-based detection in detail.

More Out-of-bounds Write vulnerabilities (CWE-787)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: partial).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Recent Out-of-bounds Write vulnerabilities

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