Linux Kernel up to 6.6.71/6.12.9 Virtual Address init_unavailable_range initialization

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as problematic has been reported in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.71/6.12.9. This issue affects the function init_unavailable_range of the component Virtual Address Handler. This manipulation causes initialization. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2024-57945. There is not any exploit available. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as problematic was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.71/6.12.9. Affected by this vulnerability is the function init_unavailable_range of the component Virtual Address Handler. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a initialization vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-665. The product does not initialize or incorrectly initializes a resource, which might leave the resource in an unexpected state when it is accessed or used. The impact remains unknown. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: riscv: mm: Fix the out of bound issue of vmemmap address In sparse vmemmap model, the virtual address of vmemmap is calculated as: ((struct page *)VMEMMAP_START - (phys_ram_base >> PAGE_SHIFT)). And the struct page's va can be calculated with an offset: (vmemmap + (pfn)). However, when initializing struct pages, kernel actually starts from the first page from the same section that phys_ram_base belongs to. If the first page's physical address is not (phys_ram_base >> PAGE_SHIFT), then we get an va below VMEMMAP_START when calculating va for it's struct page. For example, if phys_ram_base starts from 0x82000000 with pfn 0x82000, the first page in the same section is actually pfn 0x80000. During init_unavailable_range(), we will initialize struct page for pfn 0x80000 with virtual address ((struct page *)VMEMMAP_START - 0x2000), which is below VMEMMAP_START as well as PCI_IO_END. This commit fixes this bug by introducing a new variable 'vmemmap_start_pfn' which is aligned with memory section size and using it to calculate vmemmap address instead of phys_ram_base.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2024-57945 since 01/19/2025. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 230687 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2024-57945), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.6.72 or 6.12.10 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch a4a7ac3d266008018f05fae53060fcb331151a14/d2bd51954ac8377c2f1eb1813e694788998add66/f754f27e98f88428aaf6be6e00f5cbce97f62d4b 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 (230687), EUVD (EUVD-2024-53848) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-0155). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best 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
• Dell PowerProtect Data Domain
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• Dell Secure Connect Gateway

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
• 6.6.33
• 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
• 6.6.66
• 6.6.67
• 6.6.68
• 6.6.69
• 6.6.70
• 6.6.71
• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4
• 6.12.5
• 6.12.6
• 6.12.7
• 6.12.8
• 6.12.9

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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