// For flags

CVE-2024-40910

ax25: Fix refcount imbalance on inbound connections

Severity Score

"-"
*CVSS v-

Exploit Likelihood

*EPSS

Affected Versions

*CPE

Public Exploits

0
*Multiple Sources

Exploited in Wild

-
*KEV

Decision

Track
*SSVC
Descriptions

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

ax25: Fix refcount imbalance on inbound connections

When releasing a socket in ax25_release(), we call netdev_put() to
decrease the refcount on the associated ax.25 device. However, the
execution path for accepting an incoming connection never calls
netdev_hold(). This imbalance leads to refcount errors, and ultimately
to kernel crashes.

A typical call trace for the above situation will start with one of the
following errors:

refcount_t: decrement hit 0; leaking memory.
refcount_t: underflow; use-after-free.

And will then have a trace like:

Call Trace:
<TASK>
? show_regs+0x64/0x70
? __warn+0x83/0x120
? refcount_warn_saturate+0xb2/0x100
? report_bug+0x158/0x190
? prb_read_valid+0x20/0x30
? handle_bug+0x3e/0x70
? exc_invalid_op+0x1c/0x70
? asm_exc_invalid_op+0x1f/0x30
? refcount_warn_saturate+0xb2/0x100
? refcount_warn_saturate+0xb2/0x100
ax25_release+0x2ad/0x360
__sock_release+0x35/0xa0
sock_close+0x19/0x20
[...]

On reboot (or any attempt to remove the interface), the kernel gets
stuck in an infinite loop:

unregister_netdevice: waiting for ax0 to become free. Usage count = 0

This patch corrects these issues by ensuring that we call netdev_hold()
and ax25_dev_hold() for new connections in ax25_accept(). This makes the
logic leading to ax25_accept() match the logic for ax25_bind(): in both
cases we increment the refcount, which is ultimately decremented in
ax25_release().

*Credits: N/A
CVSS Scores
Attack Vector
-
Attack Complexity
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Privileges Required
-
User Interaction
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Scope
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Confidentiality
-
Integrity
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Availability
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* Common Vulnerability Scoring System
SSVC
  • Decision:Track
Exploitation
None
Automatable
No
Tech. Impact
Partial
* Organization's Worst-case Scenario
Timeline
  • 2024-07-12 CVE Reserved
  • 2024-07-12 CVE Published
  • 2024-08-30 EPSS Updated
  • 2024-09-11 CVE Updated
  • ---------- Exploited in Wild
  • ---------- KEV Due Date
  • ---------- First Exploit
CWE
CAPEC
Affected Vendors, Products, and Versions
Vendor Product Version Other Status
Vendor Product Version Other Status <-- --> Vendor Product Version Other Status
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
>= 5.18 < 6.1.95
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 5.18 < 6.1.95"
en
Affected
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
>= 5.18 < 6.6.35
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 5.18 < 6.6.35"
en
Affected
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
>= 5.18 < 6.9.6
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 5.18 < 6.9.6"
en
Affected
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
>= 5.18 < 6.10
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 5.18 < 6.10"
en
Affected
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
4.14.277
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version "4.14.277"
en
Affected
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
4.19.240
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version "4.19.240"
en
Affected
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
5.4.190
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version "5.4.190"
en
Affected
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
5.10.112
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version "5.10.112"
en
Affected
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
5.15.35
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version "5.15.35"
en
Affected
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
5.17.2
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version "5.17.2"
en
Affected