Linux: Use After Free
CVE-2024-56658 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 c261dcd61c9e88a8f1a66654354d32295a975230, dac465986a4a38cd2f13e934f562b6ca344e5720, 3267b254dc0a04dfa362a2be24573cfa6d2d78f5 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.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Update Linux to c261dcd61c9e88a8f1a66654354d32295a975230 or dac465986a4a38cd2f13e934f562b6ca344e5720 or 3267b254dc0a04dfa362a2be24573cfa6d2d78f5 or b7a79e51297f7b82adb687086f5cb2da446f1e40, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
- Update Linux Kernel to 3.13 or 3.19 or 4.2 or 6.1.121, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | a8a572a6b5f2a79280d6e302cb3c1cb1fbaeb3e8 up to, but not including, c261dcd61c9e88a8f1a66654354d32295a975230; a8a572a6b5f2a79280d6e302cb3c1cb1fbaeb3e8 up to, but not including, dac465986a4a38cd2f13e934f562b6ca344e5720; a8a572a6b5f2a79280d6e302cb3c1cb1fbaeb3e8 up to, but not including, 3267b254dc0a04dfa362a2be24573cfa6d2d78f5; a8a572a6b5f2a79280d6e302cb3c1cb1fbaeb3e8 up to, but not including, b7a79e51297f7b82adb687086f5cb2da446f1e40; a8a572a6b5f2a79280d6e302cb3c1cb1fbaeb3e8 up to, but not including, 6610c7f8a8d47fd1123eed55ba8c11c2444d8842; a8a572a6b5f2a79280d6e302cb3c1cb1fbaeb3e8 up to, but not including, 0f6ede9fbc747e2553612271bce108f7517e7a45; 3e29fa5b742479f73400468314a1c6b9cf553ee4; ce43f6a650a6689551a217276fb0dcca33790425; and 7 more ranges | c261dcd61c9e88a8f1a66654354d32295a975230, dac465986a4a38cd2f13e934f562b6ca344e5720, 3267b254dc0a04dfa362a2be24573cfa6d2d78f5, b7a79e51297f7b82adb687086f5cb2da446f1e40, 6610c7f8a8d47fd1123eed55ba8c11c2444d8842, 0f6ede9fbc747e2553612271bce108f7517e7a45 |
| Linux | Linux Kernel | 3.12.54 up to, but not including, 3.13; 3.18.27 up to, but not including, 3.19; 4.1.17 up to, but not including, 4.2; 4.3.5 up to, but not including, 6.1.121; 6.2 up to, but not including, 6.6.67; 6.7 up to, but not including, 6.12.6; 6.13 | 3.13, 3.19, 4.2, 6.1.121, 6.6.67, 6.12.6 |
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
- 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 system | Score | Severity | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | 7.8 | High | NVD |
| CVSS 3.1 | 7.8 | High | CISA (ADP) |
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: defer final 'struct net' free in netns dismantle Ilya reported a slab-use-after-free in dst_destroy [1] Issue is in xfrm6_net_init() and xfrm4_net_init() : They copy xfrm[46]_dst_ops_template into net->xfrm.xfrm[46]_dst_ops. But net structure might be freed before all the dst callbacks are called. So when dst_destroy() calls later : if (dst->ops->destroy) dst->ops->destroy(dst); dst->ops points to the old net->xfrm.xfrm[46]_dst_ops, which has been freed. See a relevant issue fixed in : ac888d58869b ("net: do not delay dst_entries_add() in dst_release()") A fix is to queue the 'struct net' to be freed after one another cleanup_net() round (and existing rcu_barrier()) [1] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in dst_destroy (net/core/dst.c:112) Read of size 8 at addr ffff8882137ccab0 by task swapper/37/0 Dec 03 05:46:18 kernel: CPU: 37 UID: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/37 Kdump: loaded Not tainted 6.12.0 #67 Hardware name: Red Hat KVM/RHEL, BIOS 1.16.1-1.el9 04/01/2014 Call Trace: <IRQ> dump_stack_lvl (lib/dump_stack.c:124) print_address_description.constprop.0 (mm/kasan/report.c:378) ? dst_destroy (net/core/dst.c:112) print_report (mm/kasan/report.c:489) ? dst_destroy (net/core/dst.c:112) ? kasan_addr_to_slab (mm/kasan/common.c:37) kasan_report (mm/kasan/report.c:603) ? dst_destroy (net/core/dst.c:112) ? rcu_do_batch (kernel/rcu/tree.c:2567) dst_destroy (net/core/dst.c:112) rcu_do_batch (kernel/rcu/tree.c:2567) ? __pfx_rcu_do_batch (kernel/rcu/tree.c:2491) ? lockdep_hardirqs_on_prepare (kernel/locking/lockdep.c:4339 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:4406) rcu_core (kernel/rcu/tree.c:2825) handle_softirqs (kernel/softirq.c:554) __irq_exit_rcu (kernel/softirq.c:589 kernel/softirq.c:428 kernel/softirq.c:637) irq_exit_rcu (kernel/softirq.c:651) sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt (arch/x86/kernel/apic/apic.c:1049 arch/x86/kernel/apic/apic.c:1049) </IRQ> <TASK> asm_sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt (./arch/x86/include/asm/idtentry.h:702) RIP: 0010:default_idle (./arch/x86/include/asm/irqflags.h:37 ./arch/x86/include/asm/irqflags.h:92 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:743) Code: 00 4d 29 c8 4c 01 c7 4c 29 c2 e9 6e ff ff ff 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 66 90 0f 00 2d c7 c9 27 00 fb f4 <fa> c3 cc cc cc cc 66 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 0f 1f 40 00 90 RSP: 0018:ffff888100d2fe00 EFLAGS: 00000246 RAX: 00000000001870ed RBX: 1ffff110201a5fc2 RCX: ffffffffb61a3e46 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: ffffffffb3d4d123 RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: ffffed11c7e1835d R10: ffff888e3f0c1aeb R11: 0000000000000000 R12: 0000000000000000 R13: ffff888100d20000 R14: dffffc0000000000 R15: 0000000000000000 ? ct_kernel_exit.constprop.0 (kernel/context_tracking.c:148) ? cpuidle_idle_call (kernel/sched/idle.c:186) default_idle_call (./include/linux/cpuidle.h:143 kernel/sched/idle.c:118) cpuidle_idle_call (kernel/sched/idle.c:186) ? __pfx_cpuidle_idle_call (kernel/sched/idle.c:168) ? lock_release (kernel/locking/lockdep.c:467 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5848) ? lockdep_hardirqs_on_prepare (kernel/locking/lockdep.c:4347 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:4406) ? tsc_verify_tsc_adjust (arch/x86/kernel/tsc_sync.c:59) do_idle (kernel/sched/idle.c:326) cpu_startup_entry (kernel/sched/idle.c:423 (discriminator 1)) start_secondary (arch/x86/kernel/smpboot.c:202 arch/x86/kernel/smpboot.c:282) ? __pfx_start_secondary (arch/x86/kernel/smpboot.c:232) ? soft_restart_cpu (arch/x86/kernel/head_64.S:452) common_startup_64 (arch/x86/kernel/head_64.S:414) </TASK> Dec 03 05:46:18 kernel: Allocated by task 12184: kasan_save_stack (mm/kasan/common.c:48) kasan_save_track (./arch/x86/include/asm/current.h:49 mm/kasan/common.c:60 mm/kasan/common.c:69) __kasan_slab_alloc (mm/kasan/common.c:319 mm/kasan/common.c:345) kmem_cache_alloc_noprof (mm/slub.c:4085 mm/slub.c:4134 mm/slub.c:4141) copy_net_ns (net/core/net_namespace.c:421 net/core/net_namespace.c:480) create_new_namespaces ---truncated---
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
Other references
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