Linux Kernel up to 6.12.4 tipc cleanup_bearer use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability described as critical has been identified in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.4. The impacted element is the function cleanup_bearer of the component tipc. The manipulation results in use after free. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2024-56642. No exploit is available. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.4. Affected is the function cleanup_bearer of the component tipc. 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. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tipc: Fix use-after-free of kernel socket in cleanup_bearer(). syzkaller reported a use-after-free of UDP kernel socket in cleanup_bearer() without repro. [0][1] When bearer_disable() calls tipc_udp_disable(), cleanup of the UDP kernel socket is deferred by work calling cleanup_bearer(). tipc_net_stop() waits for such works to finish by checking tipc_net(net)->wq_count. However, the work decrements the count too early before releasing the kernel socket, unblocking cleanup_net() and resulting in use-after-free. Let's move the decrement after releasing the socket in cleanup_bearer(). [0]: ref_tracker: net notrefcnt@000000009b3d1faf has 1/1 users at sk_alloc+0x438/0x608 inet_create+0x4c8/0xcb0 __sock_create+0x350/0x6b8 sock_create_kern+0x58/0x78 udp_sock_create4+0x68/0x398 udp_sock_create+0x88/0xc8 tipc_udp_enable+0x5e8/0x848 __tipc_nl_bearer_enable+0x84c/0xed8 tipc_nl_bearer_enable+0x38/0x60 genl_family_rcv_msg_doit+0x170/0x248 genl_rcv_msg+0x400/0x5b0 netlink_rcv_skb+0x1dc/0x398 genl_rcv+0x44/0x68 netlink_unicast+0x678/0x8b0 netlink_sendmsg+0x5e4/0x898 ____sys_sendmsg+0x500/0x830 [1]: BUG: KMSAN: use-after-free in udp_hashslot include/net/udp.h:85 [inline] BUG: KMSAN: use-after-free in udp_lib_unhash+0x3b8/0x930 net/ipv4/udp.c:1979 udp_hashslot include/net/udp.h:85 [inline] udp_lib_unhash+0x3b8/0x930 net/ipv4/udp.c:1979 sk_common_release+0xaf/0x3f0 net/core/sock.c:3820 inet_release+0x1e0/0x260 net/ipv4/af_inet.c:437 inet6_release+0x6f/0xd0 net/ipv6/af_inet6.c:489 __sock_release net/socket.c:658 [inline] sock_release+0xa0/0x210 net/socket.c:686 cleanup_bearer+0x42d/0x4c0 net/tipc/udp_media.c:819 process_one_work kernel/workqueue.c:3229 [inline] process_scheduled_works+0xcaf/0x1c90 kernel/workqueue.c:3310 worker_thread+0xf6c/0x1510 kernel/workqueue.c:3391 kthread+0x531/0x6b0 kernel/kthread.c:389 ret_from_fork+0x60/0x80 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:147 ret_from_fork_asm+0x11/0x20 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:244 Uninit was created at: slab_free_hook mm/slub.c:2269 [inline] slab_free mm/slub.c:4580 [inline] kmem_cache_free+0x207/0xc40 mm/slub.c:4682 net_free net/core/net_namespace.c:454 [inline] cleanup_net+0x16f2/0x19d0 net/core/net_namespace.c:647 process_one_work kernel/workqueue.c:3229 [inline] process_scheduled_works+0xcaf/0x1c90 kernel/workqueue.c:3310 worker_thread+0xf6c/0x1510 kernel/workqueue.c:3391 kthread+0x531/0x6b0 kernel/kthread.c:389 ret_from_fork+0x60/0x80 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:147 ret_from_fork_asm+0x11/0x20 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:244 CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 54 Comm: kworker/0:2 Not tainted 6.12.0-rc1-00131-gf66ebf37d69c #7 91723d6f74857f70725e1583cba3cf4adc716cfa Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.16.3-0-ga6ed6b701f0a-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 Workqueue: events cleanup_bearer

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2024-56642 since 12/27/2024. The exploitability is told to be difficult. 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 01/12/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 214609 (Amazon Linux 2 : kernel (ALASKERNEL-5.10-2025-079)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.4.287, 5.10.231, 5.15.174, 6.1.120, 6.6.66 or 6.12.5 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 4e69457f9dfae67435f3ccf29008768eae860415/650ee9a22d7a2de8999fac2d45983597a0c22359/d2a4894f238551eae178904e7f45af87577074fd/d62d5180c036eeac09f80660edc7a602b369125f/d00d4470bf8c4282617a3a10e76b20a9c7e4cffa/e48b211c4c59062cb6dd6c2c37c51a7cc235a464/6a2fa13312e51a621f652d522d7e2df7066330b6 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 (214609) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2024-3762). VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

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

• 5.4.286
• 5.10.230
• 5.15.173
• 6.1.119
• 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
• 6.6.58
• 6.6.59
• 6.6.60
• 6.6.61
• 6.6.62
• 6.6.63
• 6.6.64
• 6.6.65
• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4

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

VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Discussion