Linux Kernel up to 6.6.32/6.9.3 parse_btf_field stack-based overflow

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as critical has been reported in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.32/6.9.3. Affected by this vulnerability is the function parse_btf_field. The manipulation leads to stack-based overflow. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2024-36481. No exploit exists. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.32/6.9.3 and classified as critical. This issue affects the function parse_btf_field. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a stack-based overflow vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-121. A stack-based buffer overflow condition is a condition where the buffer being overwritten is allocated on the stack (i.e., is a local variable or, rarely, a parameter to a function). Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tracing/probes: fix error check in parse_btf_field() btf_find_struct_member() might return NULL or an error via the ERR_PTR() macro. However, its caller in parse_btf_field() only checks for the NULL condition. Fix this by using IS_ERR() and returning the error up the stack.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2024-36481. The exploitation is known to be easy. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 02/12/2025).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 215652 (Azure Linux 3.0 Security Update: kernel (CVE-2024-36481)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.6.33 or 6.9.4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch ad4b202da2c4/4ed468edfeb5/e569eb349702 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 (215652). If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 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

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CPE 2.2info

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If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

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