Linux Kernel up to 6.12.5 cache_tag_unassign_domain null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.5. It has been rated as critical. This affects the function cache_tag_unassign_domain. This manipulation causes null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is registered as CVE-2024-56669. No exploit is available. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.5. It has been declared as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function cache_tag_unassign_domain. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-476. A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit. As an impact it is known to affect availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: iommu/vt-d: Remove cache tags before disabling ATS The current implementation removes cache tags after disabling ATS, leading to potential memory leaks and kernel crashes. Specifically, CACHE_TAG_DEVTLB type cache tags may still remain in the list even after the domain is freed, causing a use-after-free condition. This issue really shows up when multiple VFs from different PFs passed through to a single user-space process via vfio-pci. In such cases, the kernel may crash with kernel messages like: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000014 PGD 19036a067 P4D 1940a3067 PUD 136c9b067 PMD 0 Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI CPU: 74 UID: 0 PID: 3183 Comm: testCli Not tainted 6.11.9 #2 RIP: 0010:cache_tag_flush_range+0x9b/0x250 Call Trace: ? __die+0x1f/0x60 ? page_fault_oops+0x163/0x590 ? exc_page_fault+0x72/0x190 ? asm_exc_page_fault+0x22/0x30 ? cache_tag_flush_range+0x9b/0x250 ? cache_tag_flush_range+0x5d/0x250 intel_iommu_tlb_sync+0x29/0x40 intel_iommu_unmap_pages+0xfe/0x160 __iommu_unmap+0xd8/0x1a0 vfio_unmap_unpin+0x182/0x340 [vfio_iommu_type1] vfio_remove_dma+0x2a/0xb0 [vfio_iommu_type1] vfio_iommu_type1_ioctl+0xafa/0x18e0 [vfio_iommu_type1] Move cache_tag_unassign_domain() before iommu_disable_pci_caps() to fix it.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2024-56669 since 12/27/2024. The exploitation appears to be difficult. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 214888 (CentOS 9 : kernel-5.14.0-559.el9), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.12.6 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 9a0a72d3ed919ebe6491f527630998be053151d8/1f2557e08a617a4b5e92a48a1a9a6f86621def18 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 (214888) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2024-3762). 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
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Dell NetWorker
• Dell Avamar
• Red Hat OpenShift
• IBM QRadar SIEM
• Dell PowerProtect Data Domain
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• IBM DataPower Gateway
• Dell Secure Connect Gateway

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4
• 6.12.5

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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