Linux Kernel up to 6.9.3 media stk1160_copy_video length buffer overflow

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.9.3. It has been rated as critical. This impacts the function stk1160_copy_video of the component media. This manipulation of the argument length causes buffer overflow. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2024-38621. The attack can be initiated remotely. There is not any exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.9.3 and classified as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function stk1160_copy_video of the component media. The manipulation of the argument length with an unknown input leads to a buffer overflow vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-120. The product copies an input buffer to an output buffer without verifying that the size of the input buffer is less than the size of the output buffer, leading to a buffer overflow. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: media: stk1160: fix bounds checking in stk1160_copy_video() The subtract in this condition is reversed. The ->length is the length of the buffer. The ->bytesused is how many bytes we have copied thus far. When the condition is reversed that means the result of the subtraction is always negative but since it's unsigned then the result is a very high positive value. That means the overflow check is never true. Additionally, the ->bytesused doesn't actually work for this purpose because we're not writing to "buf->mem + buf->bytesused". Instead, the math to calculate the destination where we are writing is a bit involved. You calculate the number of full lines already written, multiply by two, skip a line if necessary so that we start on an odd numbered line, and add the offset into the line. To fix this buffer overflow, just take the actual destination where we are writing, if the offset is already out of bounds print an error and return. Otherwise, write up to buf->length bytes.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2024-38621 since 06/18/2024. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be launched remotely. The exploitation doesn't need any form of authentication. It demands that the victim is doing some kind of user interaction. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 09/17/2025).

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 4.19.316, 5.4.278, 5.10.219, 5.15.161, 6.1.93, 6.6.33 or 6.9.4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch f6a392266276/ecf4ddc3aee8/a16775828aae/7532bcec0797/b504518a3970/d410017a7181/a08492832cc4/faa4364bef2e 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 vulnerability database at Tenable (207738). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 4.19.315
• 5.4.277
• 5.10.218
• 5.15.160
• 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
• 6.9.0
• 6.9.1
• 6.9.2
• 6.9.3

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔍
• 🔍
• 🔍

CPE 2.2info

• 🔍
• 🔍
• 🔍

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Discussion