Linux Kernel up to 6.6.25/6.8.4 bpf_link_free cookie null pointer dereference

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5.5$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.25/6.8.4. This impacts the function bpf_link_free. Executing a manipulation of the argument cookie can lead to null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is registered as CVE-2024-35860. No exploit is available. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.25/6.8.4. It has been declared as critical. This vulnerability affects the function bpf_link_free. The manipulation of the argument cookie with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-476. A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit. As an impact it is known to affect availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: support deferring bpf_link dealloc to after RCU grace period BPF link for some program types is passed as a "context" which can be used by those BPF programs to look up additional information. E.g., for multi-kprobes and multi-uprobes, link is used to fetch BPF cookie values. Because of this runtime dependency, when bpf_link refcnt drops to zero there could still be active BPF programs running accessing link data. This patch adds generic support to defer bpf_link dealloc callback to after RCU GP, if requested. This is done by exposing two different deallocation callbacks, one synchronous and one deferred. If deferred one is provided, bpf_link_free() will schedule dealloc_deferred() callback to happen after RCU GP. BPF is using two flavors of RCU: "classic" non-sleepable one and RCU tasks trace one. The latter is used when sleepable BPF programs are used. bpf_link_free() accommodates that by checking underlying BPF program's sleepable flag, and goes either through normal RCU GP only for non-sleepable, or through RCU tasks trace GP *and* then normal RCU GP (taking into account rcu_trace_implies_rcu_gp() optimization), if BPF program is sleepable. We use this for multi-kprobe and multi-uprobe links, which dereference link during program run. We also preventively switch raw_tp link to use deferred dealloc callback, as upcoming changes in bpf-next tree expose raw_tp link data (specifically, cookie value) to BPF program at runtime as well.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability was named CVE-2024-35860 since 05/17/2024. The exploitation appears to be easy. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available.

Upgrading to version 6.6.26 or 6.8.5 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 876941f533e7/5d8d44777756/1a80dbcb2dba 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.

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Productinfo

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Version

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CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 5.6
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 5.5

VulDB Base Score: 5.7
VulDB Temp Score: 5.5
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 5.5
NVD Vector: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
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VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Null pointer dereference
CWE: CWE-476 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Partially

Availability: 🔍
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

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Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Upgrade: Kernel 6.6.26/6.8.5
Patch: 876941f533e7/5d8d44777756/1a80dbcb2dba

Timelineinfo

05/17/2024 🔍
05/19/2024 +2 days 🔍
05/19/2024 +0 days 🔍
09/26/2025 +495 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2024-35860 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2024-35860
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-265120

Entryinfo

Created: 05/19/2024 12:56
Updated: 09/26/2025 18:24
Changes: 05/19/2024 12:56 (58), 09/26/2025 18:24 (12)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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