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CVE-2024-50221NVD status: Modified

Linux: Out-of-bounds Write

CVE-2024-50221 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 f111de0f010308949254ee1cc45df8e6b8e1d7d4, f8fd9f0d57af4f8f48b383ec28287af85b47cb9f, 4aa923a6e6406b43566ef6ac35a3d9a3197fa3e8 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.

Next patch cycle

High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.

What to do

  1. Update Linux to f111de0f010308949254ee1cc45df8e6b8e1d7d4 or f8fd9f0d57af4f8f48b383ec28287af85b47cb9f or 4aa923a6e6406b43566ef6ac35a3d9a3197fa3e8, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
  2. Update Linux Kernel to 6.11.7 or a later version.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
LinuxLinux41cec40bc9baba83d36a0718ea94bfe63189274a up to, but not including, f111de0f010308949254ee1cc45df8e6b8e1d7d4; 41cec40bc9baba83d36a0718ea94bfe63189274a up to, but not including, f8fd9f0d57af4f8f48b383ec28287af85b47cb9f; 41cec40bc9baba83d36a0718ea94bfe63189274a up to, but not including, 4aa923a6e6406b43566ef6ac35a3d9a3197fa3e8; 6.6f111de0f010308949254ee1cc45df8e6b8e1d7d4, f8fd9f0d57af4f8f48b383ec28287af85b47cb9f, 4aa923a6e6406b43566ef6ac35a3d9a3197fa3e8
LinuxLinux Kernel6.6 up to, but not including, 6.11.7; 6.126.11.7

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 3.17.8HighNVD
CVSS 3.17.8HighCISA (ADP)

Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/amd/pm: Vangogh: Fix kernel memory out of bounds write KASAN reports that the GPU metrics table allocated in vangogh_tables_init() is not large enough for the memset done in smu_cmn_init_soft_gpu_metrics(). Condensed report follows: [ 33.861314] BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in smu_cmn_init_soft_gpu_metrics+0x73/0x200 [amdgpu] [ 33.861799] Write of size 168 at addr ffff888129f59500 by task mangoapp/1067 ... [ 33.861808] CPU: 6 UID: 1000 PID: 1067 Comm: mangoapp Tainted: G W 6.12.0-rc4 #356 1a56f59a8b5182eeaf67eb7cb8b13594dd23b544 [ 33.861816] Tainted: [W]=WARN [ 33.861818] Hardware name: Valve Galileo/Galileo, BIOS F7G0107 12/01/2023 [ 33.861822] Call Trace: [ 33.861826] <TASK> [ 33.861829] dump_stack_lvl+0x66/0x90 [ 33.861838] print_report+0xce/0x620 [ 33.861853] kasan_report+0xda/0x110 [ 33.862794] kasan_check_range+0xfd/0x1a0 [ 33.862799] __asan_memset+0x23/0x40 [ 33.862803] smu_cmn_init_soft_gpu_metrics+0x73/0x200 [amdgpu 13b1bc364ec578808f676eba412c20eaab792779] [ 33.863306] vangogh_get_gpu_metrics_v2_4+0x123/0xad0 [amdgpu 13b1bc364ec578808f676eba412c20eaab792779] [ 33.864257] vangogh_common_get_gpu_metrics+0xb0c/0xbc0 [amdgpu 13b1bc364ec578808f676eba412c20eaab792779] [ 33.865682] amdgpu_dpm_get_gpu_metrics+0xcc/0x110 [amdgpu 13b1bc364ec578808f676eba412c20eaab792779] [ 33.866160] amdgpu_get_gpu_metrics+0x154/0x2d0 [amdgpu 13b1bc364ec578808f676eba412c20eaab792779] [ 33.867135] dev_attr_show+0x43/0xc0 [ 33.867147] sysfs_kf_seq_show+0x1f1/0x3b0 [ 33.867155] seq_read_iter+0x3f8/0x1140 [ 33.867173] vfs_read+0x76c/0xc50 [ 33.867198] ksys_read+0xfb/0x1d0 [ 33.867214] do_syscall_64+0x90/0x160 ... [ 33.867353] Allocated by task 378 on cpu 7 at 22.794876s: [ 33.867358] kasan_save_stack+0x33/0x50 [ 33.867364] kasan_save_track+0x17/0x60 [ 33.867367] __kasan_kmalloc+0x87/0x90 [ 33.867371] vangogh_init_smc_tables+0x3f9/0x840 [amdgpu] [ 33.867835] smu_sw_init+0xa32/0x1850 [amdgpu] [ 33.868299] amdgpu_device_init+0x467b/0x8d90 [amdgpu] [ 33.868733] amdgpu_driver_load_kms+0x19/0xf0 [amdgpu] [ 33.869167] amdgpu_pci_probe+0x2d6/0xcd0 [amdgpu] [ 33.869608] local_pci_probe+0xda/0x180 [ 33.869614] pci_device_probe+0x43f/0x6b0 Empirically we can confirm that the former allocates 152 bytes for the table, while the latter memsets the 168 large block. Root cause appears that when GPU metrics tables for v2_4 parts were added it was not considered to enlarge the table to fit. The fix in this patch is rather "brute force" and perhaps later should be done in a smarter way, by extracting and consolidating the part version to size logic to a common helper, instead of brute forcing the largest possible allocation. Nevertheless, for now this works and fixes the out of bounds write. v2: * Drop impossible v3_0 case. (Mario) (cherry picked from commit 0880f58f9609f0200483a49429af0f050d281703)

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: total).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Recent Out-of-bounds Write vulnerabilities

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