Linux: Use After Free
CVE-2024-53218 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 794fa8792d4eacac191f1cbcc2e81b7369e4662a, 60457ed6c67625c87861f96912b4179dc2293896, c631207897a9b3d41167ceca58e07f8f94720e42 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 0.22% 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 794fa8792d4eacac191f1cbcc2e81b7369e4662a or 60457ed6c67625c87861f96912b4179dc2293896 or c631207897a9b3d41167ceca58e07f8f94720e42 or 7b0033dbc48340a1c1c3f12448ba17d6587ca092, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
- Update Linux Kernel to 6.6.64 or 6.11.11 or 6.12.2, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 7950e9ac638e84518fbdd5c930939ad46a1068c5 up to, but not including, 794fa8792d4eacac191f1cbcc2e81b7369e4662a; 7950e9ac638e84518fbdd5c930939ad46a1068c5 up to, but not including, 60457ed6c67625c87861f96912b4179dc2293896; 7950e9ac638e84518fbdd5c930939ad46a1068c5 up to, but not including, c631207897a9b3d41167ceca58e07f8f94720e42; 7950e9ac638e84518fbdd5c930939ad46a1068c5 up to, but not including, 7b0033dbc48340a1c1c3f12448ba17d6587ca092; 4.16 | 794fa8792d4eacac191f1cbcc2e81b7369e4662a, 60457ed6c67625c87861f96912b4179dc2293896, c631207897a9b3d41167ceca58e07f8f94720e42, 7b0033dbc48340a1c1c3f12448ba17d6587ca092 |
| Linux | Linux Kernel | 4.16 up to, but not including, 6.6.64; 6.7 up to, but not including, 6.11.11; 6.12 up to, but not including, 6.12.2 | 6.6.64, 6.11.11, 6.12.2 |
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 CISA (ADP).
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: f2fs: fix race in concurrent f2fs_stop_gc_thread In my test case, concurrent calls to f2fs shutdown report the following stack trace: Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xc6cfff63bb5513fc: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP PTI CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 678 Comm: f2fs_rep_shutdo Not tainted 6.12.0-rc5-next-20241029-g6fb2fa9805c5-dirty #85 Call Trace: <TASK> ? show_regs+0x8b/0xa0 ? __die_body+0x26/0xa0 ? die_addr+0x54/0x90 ? exc_general_protection+0x24b/0x5c0 ? asm_exc_general_protection+0x26/0x30 ? kthread_stop+0x46/0x390 f2fs_stop_gc_thread+0x6c/0x110 f2fs_do_shutdown+0x309/0x3a0 f2fs_ioc_shutdown+0x150/0x1c0 __f2fs_ioctl+0xffd/0x2ac0 f2fs_ioctl+0x76/0xe0 vfs_ioctl+0x23/0x60 __x64_sys_ioctl+0xce/0xf0 x64_sys_call+0x2b1b/0x4540 do_syscall_64+0xa7/0x240 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e The root cause is a race condition in f2fs_stop_gc_thread() called from different f2fs shutdown paths: [CPU0] [CPU1] ---------------------- ----------------------- f2fs_stop_gc_thread f2fs_stop_gc_thread gc_th = sbi->gc_thread gc_th = sbi->gc_thread kfree(gc_th) sbi->gc_thread = NULL < gc_th != NULL > kthread_stop(gc_th->f2fs_gc_task) //UAF The commit c7f114d864ac ("f2fs: fix to avoid use-after-free in f2fs_stop_gc_thread()") attempted to fix this issue by using a read semaphore to prevent races between shutdown and remount threads, but it fails to prevent all race conditions. Fix it by converting to write lock of s_umount in f2fs_do_shutdown().
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
- 7.8 High severity
- 7.0 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
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