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Linux CVE-2024-42243

MEDIUM
2024-08-07 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
5.5
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
View

Vulnerability Assessment

Impact

CVSS score of 5.5 (MEDIUM). Attack characteristics: local attack vector, low complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction not required.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

Successful exploitation could compromise the medium-severity affected system.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
Patch available 0.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/filemap: make MAX_PAGECACHE_ORDER acceptable to xarray Patch series "mm/filemap: Limit page cache size to that supported by. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.

RemediationAI

A vendor patch is available. Apply the latest security update as soon as possible. Apply vendor patches when available. Implement network segmentation and monitoring as interim mitigations.

Affects your stack

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Technical ContextAI · show details

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/filemap: make MAX_PAGECACHE_ORDER acceptable to xarray Patch series "mm/filemap: Limit page cache size to that supported by xarray", v2. Currently, xarray can't support arbitrary page cache size. More details can be found from the WARN_ON() statement in xas_split_alloc(). In our test whose code is attached below, we hit the WARN_ON() on ARM64 system where the base page size is 64KB and huge page size is 512MB. The issue was reported long time ago and some discussions on it can be found here [1]. [1] https://www.spinics.net/lists/linux-xfs/msg75404.html In order to fix the issue, we need to adjust MAX_PAGECACHE_ORDER to one supported by xarray and avoid PMD-sized page cache if needed. The code changes are suggested by David Hildenbrand. PATCH[1] adjusts MAX_PAGECACHE_ORDER to that supported by xarray PATCH[2-3] avoids PMD-sized page cache in the synchronous readahead path PATCH[4] avoids PMD-sized page cache for shmem files if needed Test program ====

cat test.c #define _GNU_SOURCE #include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include <unistd.h> #include <string.h> #include <fcntl.h> #include <errno.h> #include <sys/syscall.h> #include <sys/mman.h> #define TEST_XFS_FILENAME "/tmp/data" #define TEST_SHMEM_FILENAME "/dev/shm/data" #define TEST_MEM_SIZE 0x20000000 int main(int argc, char **argv) { const char *filename; int fd = 0; void *buf = (void *)-1, *p; int pgsize = getpagesize(); int ret; if (pgsize != 0x10000) { fprintf(stderr, "64KB base page size is required\n"); return -EPERM; } system("echo force > /sys/kernel/mm/transparent_hugepage/shmem_enabled"); system("rm -fr /tmp/data"); system("rm -fr /dev/shm/data"); system("echo 1 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches"); /* Open xfs or shmem file */ filename = TEST_XFS_FILENAME; if (argc > 1 && !strcmp(argv[1], "shmem")) filename = TEST_SHMEM_FILENAME; fd = open(filename, O_CREAT | O_RDWR | O_TRUNC); if (fd < 0) { fprintf(stderr, "Unable to open <%s>\n", filename); return -EIO; } /* Extend file size */ ret = ftruncate(fd, TEST_MEM_SIZE); if (ret) { fprintf(stderr, "Error %d to ftruncate()\n", ret); goto cleanup; } /* Create VMA */ buf = mmap(NULL, TEST_MEM_SIZE, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE, MAP_SHARED, fd, 0); if (buf == (void *)-1) { fprintf(stderr, "Unable to mmap <%s>\n", filename); goto cleanup; } fprintf(stdout, "mapped buffer at 0x%p\n", buf); ret = madvise(buf, TEST_MEM_SIZE, MADV_HUGEPAGE); if (ret) { fprintf(stderr, "Unable to madvise(MADV_HUGEPAGE)\n"); goto cleanup; } /* Populate VMA */ ret = madvise(buf, TEST_MEM_SIZE, MADV_POPULATE_WRITE); if (ret) { fprintf(stderr, "Error %d to madvise(MADV_POPULATE_WRITE)\n", ret); goto cleanup; } /* Punch the file to enforce xarray split */ ret = fallocate(fd, FALLOC_FL_KEEP_SIZE | FALLOC_FL_PUNCH_HOLE, TEST_MEM_SIZE - pgsize, pgsize); if (ret) fprintf(stderr, "Error %d to fallocate()\n", ret); cleanup: if (buf != (void *)-1) munmap(buf, TEST_MEM_SIZE); if (fd > 0) close(fd); return 0; }

gcc test.c -o test

cat /proc/1/smaps | grep KernelPageSize | head -n 1 KernelPageSize: 64 kB

./test shmem : ------------[ cut here ]------------ WARNING: CPU: 17 PID: 5253 at lib/xarray.c:1025 xas_split_alloc+0xf8/0x128 Modules linked in: nft_fib_inet nft_fib_ipv4 nft_fib_ipv6 nft_fib \ nft_reject_inet nf_reject_ipv4 nf_reject_ipv6 nft_reject nft_ct \ nft_chain_nat nf_nat nf_conntrack nf_defrag_ipv6 nf_defrag_ipv4 \ ip_set nf_tables rfkill nfnetlink vfat fat virtio_balloon \ drm fuse xfs libcrc32c crct10dif_ce ghash_ce sha2_ce sha256_arm64 \ virtio_net sha1_ce net_failover failover virtio_console virtio_blk \ dimlib virtio_mmio CPU: 17 PID: 5253 Comm: test Kdump: loaded Tainted: G W 6.10.0-rc5-gavin+ #12 Hardware name: QEMU KVM Virtual Machine, BIOS edk2-20240524-1.el9 05/24/2024 pstate: 83400005 (Nzcv daif +PAN -UAO +TC ---truncated--- Affected products include: Linux Linux Kernel.

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 5.5 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

DescriptionNVD

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

mm/filemap: make MAX_PAGECACHE_ORDER acceptable to xarray

Patch series "mm/filemap: Limit page cache size to that supported by xarray", v2.

Currently, xarray can't support arbitrary page cache size. More details can be found from the WARN_ON() statement in xas_split_alloc(). In our test whose code is attached below, we hit the WARN_ON() on ARM64 system where the base page size is 64KB and huge page size is 512MB. The issue was reported long time ago and some discussions on it can be found here [1].

[1] https://www.spinics.net/lists/linux-xfs/msg75404.html

In order to fix the issue, we need to adjust MAX_PAGECACHE_ORDER to one supported by xarray and avoid PMD-sized page cache if needed. The code changes are suggested by David Hildenbrand.

PATCH[1] adjusts MAX_PAGECACHE_ORDER to that supported by xarray PATCH[2-3] avoids PMD-sized page cache in the synchronous readahead path PATCH[4] avoids PMD-sized page cache for shmem files if needed

Test program ====

cat test.c

#define _GNU_SOURCE #include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include <unistd.h> #include <string.h> #include <fcntl.h> #include <errno.h> #include <sys/syscall.h> #include <sys/mman.h>

#define TEST_XFS_FILENAME "/tmp/data" #define TEST_SHMEM_FILENAME "/dev/shm/data" #define TEST_MEM_SIZE 0x20000000

int main(int argc, char **argv) { const char *filename; int fd = 0; void *buf = (void *)-1, *p; int pgsize = getpagesize(); int ret;

if (pgsize != 0x10000) { fprintf(stderr, "64KB base page size is required\n"); return -EPERM; }

system("echo force > /sys/kernel/mm/transparent_hugepage/shmem_enabled"); system("rm -fr /tmp/data"); system("rm -fr /dev/shm/data"); system("echo 1 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches");

/* Open xfs or shmem file */ filename = TEST_XFS_FILENAME; if (argc > 1 && !strcmp(argv[1], "shmem")) filename = TEST_SHMEM_FILENAME;

fd = open(filename, O_CREAT | O_RDWR | O_TRUNC); if (fd < 0) { fprintf(stderr, "Unable to open <%s>\n", filename); return -EIO; }

/* Extend file size */ ret = ftruncate(fd, TEST_MEM_SIZE); if (ret) { fprintf(stderr, "Error %d to ftruncate()\n", ret); goto cleanup; }

/* Create VMA */ buf = mmap(NULL, TEST_MEM_SIZE, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE, MAP_SHARED, fd, 0); if (buf == (void *)-1) { fprintf(stderr, "Unable to mmap <%s>\n", filename); goto cleanup; }

fprintf(stdout, "mapped buffer at 0x%p\n", buf); ret = madvise(buf, TEST_MEM_SIZE, MADV_HUGEPAGE); if (ret) { fprintf(stderr, "Unable to madvise(MADV_HUGEPAGE)\n"); goto cleanup; }

/* Populate VMA */ ret = madvise(buf, TEST_MEM_SIZE, MADV_POPULATE_WRITE); if (ret) { fprintf(stderr, "Error %d to madvise(MADV_POPULATE_WRITE)\n", ret); goto cleanup; }

/* Punch the file to enforce xarray split */ ret = fallocate(fd, FALLOC_FL_KEEP_SIZE | FALLOC_FL_PUNCH_HOLE, TEST_MEM_SIZE - pgsize, pgsize); if (ret) fprintf(stderr, "Error %d to fallocate()\n", ret);

cleanup: if (buf != (void *)-1) munmap(buf, TEST_MEM_SIZE); if (fd > 0) close(fd);

return 0; }

gcc test.c -o test

cat /proc/1/smaps | grep KernelPageSize | head -n 1

KernelPageSize: 64 kB

./test shmem

: ------------[ cut here ]------------ WARNING: CPU: 17 PID: 5253 at lib/xarray.c:1025 xas_split_alloc+0xf8/0x128 Modules linked in: nft_fib_inet nft_fib_ipv4 nft_fib_ipv6 nft_fib \ nft_reject_inet nf_reject_ipv4 nf_reject_ipv6 nft_reject nft_ct \ nft_chain_nat nf_nat nf_conntrack nf_defrag_ipv6 nf_defrag_ipv4 \ ip_set nf_tables rfkill nfnetlink vfat fat virtio_balloon \ drm fuse xfs libcrc32c crct10dif_ce ghash_ce sha2_ce sha256_arm64 \ virtio_net sha1_ce net_failover failover virtio_console virtio_blk \ dimlib virtio_mmio CPU: 17 PID: 5253 Comm: test Kdump: loaded Tainted: G W 6.10.0-rc5-gavin+ #12 Hardware name: QEMU KVM Virtual Machine, BIOS edk2-20240524-1.el9 05/24/2024 pstate: 83400005 (Nzcv daif +PAN -UAO +TC ---truncated---

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.2%
Top 89% exploitable
Data Quality
3 sources
Confidence: Low

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.2%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Defer
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

28
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +28
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Remote Code Execution represents the critical moment when an attacker successfully runs arbitrary code on a target system without physical access.

Affected Products (CPE)NVD

cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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