Linux Kernel up to 6.8.2 lib/refcount.c mac802154_llsec_key_del use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.8.2 and classified as critical. This affects the function mac802154_llsec_key_del in the library lib/refcount.c. Such manipulation leads to use after free. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2024-26961. There is not any exploit available. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.8.2 and classified as critical. Affected by this issue is the function mac802154_llsec_key_del in the library lib/refcount.c. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mac802154: fix llsec key resources release in mac802154_llsec_key_del mac802154_llsec_key_del() can free resources of a key directly without following the RCU rules for waiting before the end of a grace period. This may lead to use-after-free in case llsec_lookup_key() is traversing the list of keys in parallel with a key deletion: refcount_t: addition on 0; use-after-free. WARNING: CPU: 4 PID: 16000 at lib/refcount.c:25 refcount_warn_saturate+0x162/0x2a0 Modules linked in: CPU: 4 PID: 16000 Comm: wpan-ping Not tainted 6.7.0 #19 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.2-debian-1.16.2-1 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:refcount_warn_saturate+0x162/0x2a0 Call Trace: llsec_lookup_key.isra.0+0x890/0x9e0 mac802154_llsec_encrypt+0x30c/0x9c0 ieee802154_subif_start_xmit+0x24/0x1e0 dev_hard_start_xmit+0x13e/0x690 sch_direct_xmit+0x2ae/0xbc0 __dev_queue_xmit+0x11dd/0x3c20 dgram_sendmsg+0x90b/0xd60 __sys_sendto+0x466/0x4c0 __x64_sys_sendto+0xe0/0x1c0 do_syscall_64+0x45/0xf0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x6e/0x76 Also, ieee802154_llsec_key_entry structures are not freed by mac802154_llsec_key_del(): unreferenced object 0xffff8880613b6980 (size 64): comm "iwpan", pid 2176, jiffies 4294761134 (age 60.475s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 78 0d 8f 18 80 88 ff ff 22 01 00 00 00 00 ad de x......."....... 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 00 cd ab 00 00 00 00 ................ backtrace: [] __kmem_cache_alloc_node+0x1e2/0x2d0 [] kmalloc_trace+0x25/0xc0 [] mac802154_llsec_key_add+0xac9/0xcf0 [] ieee802154_add_llsec_key+0x5a/0x80 [] nl802154_add_llsec_key+0x426/0x5b0 [] genl_family_rcv_msg_doit+0x1fe/0x2f0 [] genl_rcv_msg+0x531/0x7d0 [] netlink_rcv_skb+0x169/0x440 [] genl_rcv+0x28/0x40 [] netlink_unicast+0x53c/0x820 [] netlink_sendmsg+0x93b/0xe60 [] ____sys_sendmsg+0xac5/0xca0 [] ___sys_sendmsg+0x11d/0x1c0 [] __sys_sendmsg+0xfa/0x1d0 [] do_syscall_64+0x45/0xf0 [] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x6e/0x76 Handle the proper resource release in the RCU callback function mac802154_llsec_key_del_rcu(). Note that if llsec_lookup_key() finds a key, it gets a refcount via llsec_key_get() and locally copies key id from key_entry (which is a list element). So it's safe to call llsec_key_put() and free the list entry after the RCU grace period elapses. Found by Linux Verification Center (linuxtesting.org).

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2024-26961 since 02/19/2024. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $0-$5k (estimation calculated on 01/26/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 209903 (RHEL 9 : kernel (RHSA-2024:8617)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.10.215, 5.15.154, 6.1.84, 6.6.24, 6.7.12, 6.8.3 or 6.9-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 068ab2759bc0/d3d858650933/dcd51ab42b7a/20d3e1c8a184/640297c3e897/49c8951680d7/e8a1e58345cf is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (209903) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2024-1008). VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• Oracle VM
• EMC Avamar
• IBM QRadar SIEM
• Dell NetWorker
• IBM Security Guardium
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Broadcom Brocade SANnav
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• IBM Business Automation Workflow
• IBM Spectrum Protect Plus
• Dell Avamar
• Juniper Junos Space
• IBM DataPower Gateway
• IBM Storage Scale System
• SolarWinds Security Event Manager
• Dell PowerProtect Data Domain
• Dell PowerScale OneFS

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.10.214
• 5.15.153
• 6.1.0
• 6.1.1
• 6.1.2
• 6.1.3
• 6.1.4
• 6.1.5
• 6.1.6
• 6.1.7
• 6.1.8
• 6.1.9
• 6.1.10
• 6.1.11
• 6.1.12
• 6.1.13
• 6.1.14
• 6.1.15
• 6.1.16
• 6.1.17
• 6.1.18
• 6.1.19
• 6.1.20
• 6.1.21
• 6.1.22
• 6.1.23
• 6.1.24
• 6.1.25
• 6.1.26
• 6.1.27
• 6.1.28
• 6.1.29
• 6.1.30
• 6.1.31
• 6.1.32
• 6.1.33
• 6.1.34
• 6.1.35
• 6.1.36
• 6.1.37
• 6.1.38
• 6.1.39
• 6.1.40
• 6.1.41
• 6.1.42
• 6.1.43
• 6.1.44
• 6.1.45
• 6.1.46
• 6.1.47
• 6.1.48
• 6.1.49
• 6.1.50
• 6.1.51
• 6.1.52
• 6.1.53
• 6.1.54
• 6.1.55
• 6.1.56
• 6.1.57
• 6.1.58
• 6.1.59
• 6.1.60
• 6.1.61
• 6.1.62
• 6.1.63
• 6.1.64
• 6.1.65
• 6.1.66
• 6.1.67
• 6.1.68
• 6.1.69
• 6.1.70
• 6.1.71
• 6.1.72
• 6.1.73
• 6.1.74
• 6.1.75
• 6.1.76
• 6.1.77
• 6.1.78
• 6.1.79
• 6.1.80
• 6.1.81
• 6.1.82
• 6.1.83
• 6.6.0
• 6.6.1
• 6.6.2
• 6.6.3
• 6.6.4
• 6.6.5
• 6.6.6
• 6.6.7
• 6.6.8
• 6.6.9
• 6.6.10
• 6.6.11
• 6.6.12
• 6.6.13
• 6.6.14
• 6.6.15
• 6.6.16
• 6.6.17
• 6.6.18
• 6.6.19
• 6.6.20
• 6.6.21
• 6.6.22
• 6.6.23
• 6.7.0
• 6.7.1
• 6.7.2
• 6.7.3
• 6.7.4
• 6.7.5
• 6.7.6
• 6.7.7
• 6.7.8
• 6.7.9
• 6.7.10
• 6.7.11
• 6.8.0
• 6.8.1
• 6.8.2

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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