// For flags

CVE-2024-53096

mm: resolve faulty mmap_region() error path behaviour

Severity Score

5.5
*CVSS v3

Exploit Likelihood

*EPSS

Affected Versions

*CPE

Public Exploits

1
*Multiple Sources

Exploited in Wild

-
*KEV

Decision

-
*SSVC
Descriptions

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm: resolve faulty mmap_region() error path behaviour The mmap_region() function is somewhat terrifying, with spaghetti-like
control flow and numerous means by which issues can arise and incomplete
state, memory leaks and other unpleasantness can occur. A large amount of the complexity arises from trying to handle errors late
in the process of mapping a VMA, which forms the basis of recently
observed issues with resource leaks and observable inconsistent state. Taking advantage of previous patches in this series we move a number of
checks earlier in the code, simplifying things by moving the core of the
logic into a static internal function __mmap_region(). Doing this allows us to perform a number of checks up front before we do
any real work, and allows us to unwind the writable unmap check
unconditionally as required and to perform a CONFIG_DEBUG_VM_MAPLE_TREE
validation unconditionally also. We move a number of things here: 1. We preallocate memory for the iterator before we call the file-backed memory hook, allowing us to exit early and avoid having to perform complicated and error-prone close/free logic. We carefully free iterator state on both success and error paths. 2. The enclosing mmap_region() function handles the mapping_map_writable() logic early. Previously the logic had the mapping_map_writable() at the point of mapping a newly allocated file-backed VMA, and a matching mapping_unmap_writable() on success and error paths. We now do this unconditionally if this is a file-backed, shared writable mapping. If a driver changes the flags to eliminate VM_MAYWRITE, however doing so does not invalidate the seal check we just performed, and we in any case always decrement the counter in the wrapper. We perform a debug assert to ensure a driver does not attempt to do the opposite. 3. We also move arch_validate_flags() up into the mmap_region() function. This is only relevant on arm64 and sparc64, and the check is only meaningful for SPARC with ADI enabled. We explicitly add a warning for this arch if a driver invalidates this check, though the code ought eventually to be fixed to eliminate the need for this. With all of these measures in place, we no longer need to explicitly close
the VMA on error paths, as we place all checks which might fail prior to a
call to any driver mmap hook. This eliminates an entire class of errors, makes the code easier to reason
about and more robust.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm: resolve faulty mmap_region() error path behaviour The mmap_region() function is somewhat terrifying, with spaghetti-like control flow and numerous means by which issues can arise and incomplete state, memory leaks and other unpleasantness can occur. A large amount of the complexity arises from trying to handle errors late in the process of mapping a VMA, which forms the basis of recently observed issues with resource leaks and observable inconsistent state. Taking advantage of previous patches in this series we move a number of checks earlier in the code, simplifying things by moving the core of the logic into a static internal function __mmap_region(). Doing this allows us to perform a number of checks up front before we do any real work, and allows us to unwind the writable unmap check unconditionally as required and to perform a CONFIG_DEBUG_VM_MAPLE_TREE validation unconditionally also. We move a number of things here: 1. We preallocate memory for the iterator before we call the file-backed memory hook, allowing us to exit early and avoid having to perform complicated and error-prone close/free logic. We carefully free iterator state on both success and error paths. 2. The enclosing mmap_region() function handles the mapping_map_writable() logic early. Previously the logic had the mapping_map_writable() at the point of mapping a newly allocated file-backed VMA, and a matching mapping_unmap_writable() on success and error paths. We now do this unconditionally if this is a file-backed, shared writable mapping. If a driver changes the flags to eliminate VM_MAYWRITE, however doing so does not invalidate the seal check we just performed, and we in any case always decrement the counter in the wrapper. We perform a debug assert to ensure a driver does not attempt to do the opposite. 3. We also move arch_validate_flags() up into the mmap_region() function. This is only relevant on arm64 and sparc64, and the check is only meaningful for SPARC with ADI enabled. We explicitly add a warning for this arch if a driver invalidates this check, though the code ought eventually to be fixed to eliminate the need for this. With all of these measures in place, we no longer need to explicitly close the VMA on error paths, as we place all checks which might fail prior to a call to any driver mmap hook. This eliminates an entire class of errors, makes the code easier to reason about and more robust.

Attila Szász discovered that the HFS+ file system implementation in the Linux Kernel contained a heap overflow vulnerability. An attacker could use a specially crafted file system image that, when mounted, could cause a denial of service or possibly execute arbitrary code. Several security issues were discovered in the Linux kernel. An attacker could possibly use these to compromise the system.

*Credits: N/A
CVSS Scores
Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Authentication
Single
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Complete
* Common Vulnerability Scoring System
SSVC
  • Decision:-
Exploitation
-
Automatable
-
Tech. Impact
-
* Organization's Worst-case Scenario
Timeline
  • 2024-11-19 CVE Reserved
  • 2024-11-25 CVE Published
  • 2024-12-17 First Exploit
  • 2024-12-19 CVE Updated
  • 2025-03-29 EPSS Updated
  • ---------- Exploited in Wild
  • ---------- KEV Due Date
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"
>= 5.10.150 < 5.10.231
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 5.10.150 < 5.10.231"
en
Affected
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
>= 5.15.75 < 5.15.174
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 5.15.75 < 5.15.174"
en
Affected
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
>= 6.1 < 6.1.119
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 6.1 < 6.1.119"
en
Affected
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
>= 6.1 < 6.6.63
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 6.1 < 6.6.63"
en
Affected
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
>= 6.1 < 6.12
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 6.1 < 6.12"
en
Affected
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
5.19.17
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version "5.19.17"
en
Affected
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
6.0.3
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version "6.0.3"
en
Affected