Linux Kernel up to 6.1.92/6.6.32/6.8.11/6.9.2 ftrace_location use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.92/6.6.32/6.8.11/6.9.2. Affected is the function ftrace_location. Executing a manipulation can lead to use after free. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2024-38588. There is not any exploit available. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.92/6.6.32/6.8.11/6.9.2. It has been declared as critical. This vulnerability affects the function ftrace_location. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ftrace: Fix possible use-after-free issue in ftrace_location() KASAN reports a bug: BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in ftrace_location+0x90/0x120 Read of size 8 at addr ffff888141d40010 by task insmod/424 CPU: 8 PID: 424 Comm: insmod Tainted: G W 6.9.0-rc2+ [...] Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x68/0xa0 print_report+0xcf/0x610 kasan_report+0xb5/0xe0 ftrace_location+0x90/0x120 register_kprobe+0x14b/0xa40 kprobe_init+0x2d/0xff0 [kprobe_example] do_one_initcall+0x8f/0x2d0 do_init_module+0x13a/0x3c0 load_module+0x3082/0x33d0 init_module_from_file+0xd2/0x130 __x64_sys_finit_module+0x306/0x440 do_syscall_64+0x68/0x140 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x71/0x79 The root cause is that, in lookup_rec(), ftrace record of some address is being searched in ftrace pages of some module, but those ftrace pages at the same time is being freed in ftrace_release_mod() as the corresponding module is being deleted: CPU1 | CPU2 register_kprobes() { | delete_module() { check_kprobe_address_safe() { | arch_check_ftrace_location() { | ftrace_location() { | lookup_rec() // USE! | ftrace_release_mod() // Free! To fix this issue: 1. Hold rcu lock as accessing ftrace pages in ftrace_location_range(); 2. Use ftrace_location_range() instead of lookup_rec() in ftrace_location(); 3. Call synchronize_rcu() before freeing any ftrace pages both in ftrace_process_locs()/ftrace_release_mod()/ftrace_free_mem().

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability was named CVE-2024-38588 since 06/18/2024. The exploitation appears to be difficult. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit. The structure of the vulnerability defines a possible price range of USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 12/23/2025).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 207738 (Ubuntu 20.04 LTS : Linux kernel vulnerabilities (USN-7009-2)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.1.93, 6.6.33, 6.8.12 or 6.9.3 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch dbff5f0bfb24/7b4881da5b19/66df065b3106/31310e373f4c/e60b613df8b6 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 (207738) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2024-1418). If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• IBM InfoSphere Guardium
• Oracle Linux
• Oracle VM
• IBM Security Guardium
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Broadcom Brocade SANnav
• Dell NetWorker
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• IBM QRadar SIEM
• Dell Avamar
• IBM Storage Scale
• Juniper Junos Space
• SolarWinds Security Event Manager
• Dell PowerProtect Data Domain

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 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
• 6.1.84
• 6.1.85
• 6.1.86
• 6.1.87
• 6.1.88
• 6.1.89
• 6.1.90
• 6.1.91
• 6.1.92
• 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
• 6.6.24
• 6.6.25
• 6.6.26
• 6.6.27
• 6.6.28
• 6.6.29
• 6.6.30
• 6.6.31
• 6.6.32
• 6.8.0
• 6.8.1
• 6.8.2
• 6.8.3
• 6.8.4
• 6.8.5
• 6.8.6
• 6.8.7
• 6.8.8
• 6.8.9
• 6.8.10
• 6.8.11
• 6.9.0
• 6.9.1
• 6.9.2

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

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