Linux: Use After Free
CVE-2024-50106 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.0 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 967faa26f313a62e7bebc55d5b8122eaee43b929, 8dd91e8d31febf4d9cca3ae1bb4771d33ae7ee5a 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 0.5% 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 967faa26f313a62e7bebc55d5b8122eaee43b929 or 8dd91e8d31febf4d9cca3ae1bb4771d33ae7ee5a, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
- Update Linux Kernel to 6.11.6 or a later version.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 83e733161fde43e2f99cefa68e369944460fce39 up to, but not including, 967faa26f313a62e7bebc55d5b8122eaee43b929; 83e733161fde43e2f99cefa68e369944460fce39 up to, but not including, 8dd91e8d31febf4d9cca3ae1bb4771d33ae7ee5a; 6.9 | 967faa26f313a62e7bebc55d5b8122eaee43b929, 8dd91e8d31febf4d9cca3ae1bb4771d33ae7ee5a |
| Linux | Linux Kernel | 3.17 up to, but not including, 6.11.6; 6.12 | 6.11.6 |
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
- HighSuccess depends on conditions outside the attacker's control.
- 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:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by NVD.
| Scoring system | Score | Severity | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | 9.8 | Critical | CNA |
| CVSS 3.1 | 7.0 | High | NVD |
| CVSS 3.1 | 7.8 | High | CISA (ADP) |
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nfsd: fix race between laundromat and free_stateid There is a race between laundromat handling of revoked delegations and a client sending free_stateid operation. Laundromat thread finds that delegation has expired and needs to be revoked so it marks the delegation stid revoked and it puts it on a reaper list but then it unlock the state lock and the actual delegation revocation happens without the lock. Once the stid is marked revoked a racing free_stateid processing thread does the following (1) it calls list_del_init() which removes it from the reaper list and (2) frees the delegation stid structure. The laundromat thread ends up not calling the revoke_delegation() function for this particular delegation but that means it will no release the lock lease that exists on the file. Now, a new open for this file comes in and ends up finding that lease list isn't empty and calls nfsd_breaker_owns_lease() which ends up trying to derefence a freed delegation stateid. Leading to the followint use-after-free KASAN warning: kernel: ================================================================== kernel: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in nfsd_breaker_owns_lease+0x140/0x160 [nfsd] kernel: Read of size 8 at addr ffff0000e73cd0c8 by task nfsd/6205 kernel: kernel: CPU: 2 UID: 0 PID: 6205 Comm: nfsd Kdump: loaded Not tainted 6.11.0-rc7+ #9 kernel: Hardware name: Apple Inc. Apple Virtualization Generic Platform, BIOS 2069.0.0.0.0 08/03/2024 kernel: Call trace: kernel: dump_backtrace+0x98/0x120 kernel: show_stack+0x1c/0x30 kernel: dump_stack_lvl+0x80/0xe8 kernel: print_address_description.constprop.0+0x84/0x390 kernel: print_report+0xa4/0x268 kernel: kasan_report+0xb4/0xf8 kernel: __asan_report_load8_noabort+0x1c/0x28 kernel: nfsd_breaker_owns_lease+0x140/0x160 [nfsd] kernel: nfsd_file_do_acquire+0xb3c/0x11d0 [nfsd] kernel: nfsd_file_acquire_opened+0x84/0x110 [nfsd] kernel: nfs4_get_vfs_file+0x634/0x958 [nfsd] kernel: nfsd4_process_open2+0xa40/0x1a40 [nfsd] kernel: nfsd4_open+0xa08/0xe80 [nfsd] kernel: nfsd4_proc_compound+0xb8c/0x2130 [nfsd] kernel: nfsd_dispatch+0x22c/0x718 [nfsd] kernel: svc_process_common+0x8e8/0x1960 [sunrpc] kernel: svc_process+0x3d4/0x7e0 [sunrpc] kernel: svc_handle_xprt+0x828/0xe10 [sunrpc] kernel: svc_recv+0x2cc/0x6a8 [sunrpc] kernel: nfsd+0x270/0x400 [nfsd] kernel: kthread+0x288/0x310 kernel: ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 This patch proposes a fixed that's based on adding 2 new additional stid's sc_status values that help coordinate between the laundromat and other operations (nfsd4_free_stateid() and nfsd4_delegreturn()). First to make sure, that once the stid is marked revoked, it is not removed by the nfsd4_free_stateid(), the laundromat take a reference on the stateid. Then, coordinating whether the stid has been put on the cl_revoked list or we are processing FREE_STATEID and need to make sure to remove it from the list, each check that state and act accordingly. If laundromat has added to the cl_revoke list before the arrival of FREE_STATEID, then nfsd4_free_stateid() knows to remove it from the list. If nfsd4_free_stateid() finds that operations arrived before laundromat has placed it on cl_revoke list, it marks the state freed and then laundromat will no longer add it to the list. Also, for nfsd4_delegreturn() when looking for the specified stid, we need to access stid that are marked removed or freeable, it means the laundromat has started processing it but hasn't finished and this delegreturn needs to return nfserr_deleg_revoked and not nfserr_bad_stateid. The latter will not trigger a FREE_STATEID and the lack of it will leave this stid on the cl_revoked list indefinitely.
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: total).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Patches and release notes
Recent Use After Free vulnerabilities
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