Linux Kernel up to 6.1.113/6.6.57/6.11.4 drivers/tty/n_gsm.c: gsm_cleanup_mux use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.113/6.6.57/6.11.4. The impacted element is the function gsm_cleanup_mux in the library lib/rbtree.c of the file drivers/tty/n_gsm.c:. Performing a manipulation results in use after free. This vulnerability is reported as CVE-2024-50073. No exploit exists. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.113/6.6.57/6.11.4. This affects the function gsm_cleanup_mux in the library lib/rbtree.c of the file drivers/tty/n_gsm.c:. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tty: n_gsm: Fix use-after-free in gsm_cleanup_mux BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in gsm_cleanup_mux+0x77b/0x7b0 drivers/tty/n_gsm.c:3160 [n_gsm] Read of size 8 at addr ffff88815fe99c00 by task poc/3379 CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 3379 Comm: poc Not tainted 6.11.0+ #56 Hardware name: VMware, Inc. VMware Virtual Platform/440BX Desktop Reference Platform, BIOS 6.00 11/12/2020 Call Trace: gsm_cleanup_mux+0x77b/0x7b0 drivers/tty/n_gsm.c:3160 [n_gsm] __pfx_gsm_cleanup_mux+0x10/0x10 drivers/tty/n_gsm.c:3124 [n_gsm] __pfx_sched_clock_cpu+0x10/0x10 kernel/sched/clock.c:389 update_load_avg+0x1c1/0x27b0 kernel/sched/fair.c:4500 __pfx_min_vruntime_cb_rotate+0x10/0x10 kernel/sched/fair.c:846 __rb_insert_augmented+0x492/0xbf0 lib/rbtree.c:161 gsmld_ioctl+0x395/0x1450 drivers/tty/n_gsm.c:3408 [n_gsm] _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x92/0xf0 arch/x86/include/asm/atomic.h:107 __pfx_gsmld_ioctl+0x10/0x10 drivers/tty/n_gsm.c:3822 [n_gsm] ktime_get+0x5e/0x140 kernel/time/timekeeping.c:195 ldsem_down_read+0x94/0x4e0 arch/x86/include/asm/atomic64_64.h:79 __pfx_ldsem_down_read+0x10/0x10 drivers/tty/tty_ldsem.c:338 __pfx_do_vfs_ioctl+0x10/0x10 fs/ioctl.c:805 tty_ioctl+0x643/0x1100 drivers/tty/tty_io.c:2818 Allocated by task 65: gsm_data_alloc.constprop.0+0x27/0x190 drivers/tty/n_gsm.c:926 [n_gsm] gsm_send+0x2c/0x580 drivers/tty/n_gsm.c:819 [n_gsm] gsm1_receive+0x547/0xad0 drivers/tty/n_gsm.c:3038 [n_gsm] gsmld_receive_buf+0x176/0x280 drivers/tty/n_gsm.c:3609 [n_gsm] tty_ldisc_receive_buf+0x101/0x1e0 drivers/tty/tty_buffer.c:391 tty_port_default_receive_buf+0x61/0xa0 drivers/tty/tty_port.c:39 flush_to_ldisc+0x1b0/0x750 drivers/tty/tty_buffer.c:445 process_scheduled_works+0x2b0/0x10d0 kernel/workqueue.c:3229 worker_thread+0x3dc/0x950 kernel/workqueue.c:3391 kthread+0x2a3/0x370 kernel/kthread.c:389 ret_from_fork+0x2d/0x70 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:147 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:257 Freed by task 3367: kfree+0x126/0x420 mm/slub.c:4580 gsm_cleanup_mux+0x36c/0x7b0 drivers/tty/n_gsm.c:3160 [n_gsm] gsmld_ioctl+0x395/0x1450 drivers/tty/n_gsm.c:3408 [n_gsm] tty_ioctl+0x643/0x1100 drivers/tty/tty_io.c:2818 [Analysis] gsm_msg on the tx_ctrl_list or tx_data_list of gsm_mux can be freed by multi threads through ioctl,which leads to the occurrence of uaf. Protect it by gsm tx lock.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2024-50073 since 10/21/2024. The exploitability is told to be difficult. 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 08/21/2025).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 213014 (SUSE SLES15 / openSUSE 15 Security Update : kernel (SUSE-SU-2024:4315-1)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.1.114, 6.6.58 or 6.11.5 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch bf171b5e86e4/c29f192e0d44/0eec592c6a74/9462f4ca56e7 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 (213014) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2024-3289). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• Open Source eCryptfs
• NetApp ActiveIQ Unified Manager
• SUSE openSUSE
• RESF Rocky Linux
• IBM QRadar SIEM

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.1.113
• 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
• 6.6.36
• 6.6.37
• 6.6.38
• 6.6.39
• 6.6.40
• 6.6.41
• 6.6.42
• 6.6.43
• 6.6.44
• 6.6.45
• 6.6.46
• 6.6.47
• 6.6.48
• 6.6.49
• 6.6.50
• 6.6.51
• 6.6.52
• 6.6.53
• 6.6.54
• 6.6.55
• 6.6.56
• 6.6.57
• 6.11.0
• 6.11.1
• 6.11.2
• 6.11.3
• 6.11.4

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

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

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