Linux Kernel up to 6.9.6 on LLVM plpar_hcall array index

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.9.6 on LLVM and classified as problematic. This affects the function plpar_hcall. Such manipulation leads to array index. This vulnerability is listed as CVE-2024-40974. There is no available exploit. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.9.6 on LLVM. It has been rated as problematic. Affected by this issue is the function plpar_hcall. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a array index vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-129. The product uses untrusted input when calculating or using an array index, but the product does not validate or incorrectly validates the index to ensure the index references a valid position within the array. The impact remains unknown. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powerpc/pseries: Enforce hcall result buffer validity and size plpar_hcall(), plpar_hcall9(), and related functions expect callers to provide valid result buffers of certain minimum size. Currently this is communicated only through comments in the code and the compiler has no idea. For example, if I write a bug like this: long retbuf[PLPAR_HCALL_BUFSIZE]; // should be PLPAR_HCALL9_BUFSIZE plpar_hcall9(H_ALLOCATE_VAS_WINDOW, retbuf, ...); This compiles with no diagnostics emitted, but likely results in stack corruption at runtime when plpar_hcall9() stores results past the end of the array. (To be clear this is a contrived example and I have not found a real instance yet.) To make this class of error less likely, we can use explicitly-sized array parameters instead of pointers in the declarations for the hcall APIs. When compiled with -Warray-bounds[1], the code above now provokes a diagnostic like this: error: array argument is too small; is of size 32, callee requires at least 72 [-Werror,-Warray-bounds] 60 | plpar_hcall9(H_ALLOCATE_VAS_WINDOW, retbuf, | ^ ~~~~~~ [1] Enabled for LLVM builds but not GCC for now. See commit 0da6e5fd6c37 ("gcc: disable '-Warray-bounds' for gcc-13 too") and related changes.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2024-40974 since 07/12/2024. 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 09/17/2025).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 207802 (Ubuntu 20.04 LTS : Linux kernel vulnerabilities (USN-7003-4)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 4.19.317, 5.4.279, 5.10.221, 5.15.162, 6.1.96, 6.6.36 or 6.9.7 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch acf2b80c31c3/19c166ee42cf/a8c988d752b3/262e942ff5a8/8aa11aa00157/3ad0034910a5/aa6107dcc4ce/ff2e185cf73d 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 (207802). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 4.19.316
• 5.4.278
• 5.10.220
• 5.15.161
• 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
• 6.1.93
• 6.1.94
• 6.1.95
• 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
• 6.6.33
• 6.6.34
• 6.6.35
• 6.9.0
• 6.9.1
• 6.9.2
• 6.9.3
• 6.9.4
• 6.9.5
• 6.9.6

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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