CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2024-42284NVD status: Modified

Linux: Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2024-42284 is a high-severity improper check for unusual or exceptional conditions 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 7ec3335dd89c8d169e9650e4bac64fde71fdf15b, 253405541be2f15ffebdeac2f4cf4b7e9144d12f, aa38bf74899de07cf70b50cd17f8ad45fb6654c8 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 0.92% chance of exploitation within 30 days, higher than 61% of scored CVEs.

Next patch cycle

High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.

What to do

  1. Update Linux to 7ec3335dd89c8d169e9650e4bac64fde71fdf15b or 253405541be2f15ffebdeac2f4cf4b7e9144d12f or aa38bf74899de07cf70b50cd17f8ad45fb6654c8 or 5eea127675450583680c8170358bcba43227bd69, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
  2. Update Linux Kernel to 4.19.320 or 5.4.282 or 5.10.224 or 5.15.165, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
LinuxLinuxd0f91938bede204a343473792529e0db7d599836 up to, but not including, 7ec3335dd89c8d169e9650e4bac64fde71fdf15b; d0f91938bede204a343473792529e0db7d599836 up to, but not including, 253405541be2f15ffebdeac2f4cf4b7e9144d12f; d0f91938bede204a343473792529e0db7d599836 up to, but not including, aa38bf74899de07cf70b50cd17f8ad45fb6654c8; d0f91938bede204a343473792529e0db7d599836 up to, but not including, 5eea127675450583680c8170358bcba43227bd69; d0f91938bede204a343473792529e0db7d599836 up to, but not including, 728734352743a78b4c5a7285b282127696a4a813; d0f91938bede204a343473792529e0db7d599836 up to, but not including, 76ddf84a52f0d8ec3f5db6ccce08faf202a17d28; d0f91938bede204a343473792529e0db7d599836 up to, but not including, 2abe350db1aa599eeebc6892237d0bce0f1de62a; d0f91938bede204a343473792529e0db7d599836 up to, but not including, fa96c6baef1b5385e2f0c0677b32b3839e716076; and 1 more ranges7ec3335dd89c8d169e9650e4bac64fde71fdf15b, 253405541be2f15ffebdeac2f4cf4b7e9144d12f, aa38bf74899de07cf70b50cd17f8ad45fb6654c8, 5eea127675450583680c8170358bcba43227bd69, 728734352743a78b4c5a7285b282127696a4a813, 76ddf84a52f0d8ec3f5db6ccce08faf202a17d28
LinuxLinux Kernel4.1 up to, but not including, 4.19.320; 4.20 up to, but not including, 5.4.282; 5.5 up to, but not including, 5.10.224; 5.11 up to, but not including, 5.15.165; 5.16 up to, but not including, 6.1.103; 6.2 up to, but not including, 6.6.44; 6.7 up to, but not including, 6.10.34.19.320, 5.4.282, 5.10.224, 5.15.165, 6.1.103, 6.6.44

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 systemScoreSeverityScored by
CVSS 3.19.1CriticalCNA
CVSS 3.17.8HighNVD

Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tipc: Return non-zero value from tipc_udp_addr2str() on error tipc_udp_addr2str() should return non-zero value if the UDP media address is invalid. Otherwise, a buffer overflow access can occur in tipc_media_addr_printf(). Fix this by returning 1 on an invalid UDP media address.

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

The underlying weakness: Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions

The product does not check or incorrectly checks for unusual or exceptional conditions that are not expected to occur frequently during day to day operation of the product.

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. Choose languages with features such as exception handling that force the programmer to anticipate unusual conditions that may generate exceptions. Custom exceptions may need to be developed to handle unusual business-logic conditions. Be careful not to pass sensitive exceptions back to the user (CWE-209, CWE-248).
  • Check the results of all functions that return a value and verify that the value is expected.
  • If using exception handling, catch and throw specific exceptions instead of overly-general exceptions (CWE-396, CWE-397). Catch and handle exceptions as locally as possible so that exceptions do not propagate too far up the call stack (CWE-705). Avoid unchecked or uncaught exceptions where feasible (CWE-248).

More Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions vulnerabilities (CWE-754)

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 Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions vulnerabilities

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