// For flags

CVE-2024-56644

net/ipv6: release expired exception dst cached in socket

Severity Score

5.5
*CVSS v3

Exploit Likelihood

*EPSS

Affected Versions

*CPE

Public Exploits

0
*Multiple Sources

Exploited in Wild

-
*KEV

Decision

-
*SSVC
Descriptions

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/ipv6: release expired exception dst cached in socket Dst objects get leaked in ip6_negative_advice() when this function is
executed for an expired IPv6 route located in the exception table. There
are several conditions that must be fulfilled for the leak to occur:
* an ICMPv6 packet indicating a change of the MTU for the path is received, resulting in an exception dst being created
* a TCP connection that uses the exception dst for routing packets must start timing out so that TCP begins retransmissions
* after the exception dst expires, the FIB6 garbage collector must not run before TCP executes ip6_negative_advice() for the expired exception dst When TCP executes ip6_negative_advice() for an exception dst that has
expired and if no other socket holds a reference to the exception dst, the
refcount of the exception dst is 2, which corresponds to the increment
made by dst_init() and the increment made by the TCP socket for which the
connection is timing out. The refcount made by the socket is never
released. The refcount of the dst is decremented in sk_dst_reset() but
that decrement is counteracted by a dst_hold() intentionally placed just
before the sk_dst_reset() in ip6_negative_advice(). After
ip6_negative_advice() has finished, there is no other object tied to the
dst. The socket lost its reference stored in sk_dst_cache and the dst is
no longer in the exception table. The exception dst becomes a leaked
object. As a result of this dst leak, an unbalanced refcount is reported for the
loopback device of a net namespace being destroyed under kernels that do
not contain e5f80fcf869a ("ipv6: give an IPv6 dev to blackhole_netdev"):
unregister_netdevice: waiting for lo to become free. Usage count = 2 Fix the dst leak by removing the dst_hold() in ip6_negative_advice(). The
patch that introduced the dst_hold() in ip6_negative_advice() was
92f1655aa2b22 ("net: fix __dst_negative_advice() race"). But 92f1655aa2b22
merely refactored the code with regards to the dst refcount so the issue
was present even before 92f1655aa2b22. The bug was introduced in
54c1a859efd9f ("ipv6: Don't drop cache route entry unless timer actually
expired.") where the expired cached route is deleted and the sk_dst_cache
member of the socket is set to NULL by calling dst_negative_advice() but
the refcount belonging to the socket is left unbalanced. The IPv4 version - ipv4_negative_advice() - is not affected by this bug.
When the TCP connection times out ipv4_negative_advice() merely resets the
sk_dst_cache of the socket while decrementing the refcount of the
exception dst.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/ipv6: release expired exception dst cached in socket Dst objects get leaked in ip6_negative_advice() when this function is executed for an expired IPv6 route located in the exception table. There are several conditions that must be fulfilled for the leak to occur: * an ICMPv6 packet indicating a change of the MTU for the path is received, resulting in an exception dst being created * a TCP connection that uses the exception dst for routing packets must start timing out so that TCP begins retransmissions * after the exception dst expires, the FIB6 garbage collector must not run before TCP executes ip6_negative_advice() for the expired exception dst When TCP executes ip6_negative_advice() for an exception dst that has expired and if no other socket holds a reference to the exception dst, the refcount of the exception dst is 2, which corresponds to the increment made by dst_init() and the increment made by the TCP socket for which the connection is timing out. The refcount made by the socket is never released. The refcount of the dst is decremented in sk_dst_reset() but that decrement is counteracted by a dst_hold() intentionally placed just before the sk_dst_reset() in ip6_negative_advice(). After ip6_negative_advice() has finished, there is no other object tied to the dst. The socket lost its reference stored in sk_dst_cache and the dst is no longer in the exception table. The exception dst becomes a leaked object. As a result of this dst leak, an unbalanced refcount is reported for the loopback device of a net namespace being destroyed under kernels that do not contain e5f80fcf869a ("ipv6: give an IPv6 dev to blackhole_netdev"): unregister_netdevice: waiting for lo to become free. Usage count = 2 Fix the dst leak by removing the dst_hold() in ip6_negative_advice(). The patch that introduced the dst_hold() in ip6_negative_advice() was 92f1655aa2b22 ("net: fix __dst_negative_advice() race"). But 92f1655aa2b22 merely refactored the code with regards to the dst refcount so the issue was present even before 92f1655aa2b22. The bug was introduced in 54c1a859efd9f ("ipv6: Don't drop cache route entry unless timer actually expired.") where the expired cached route is deleted and the sk_dst_cache member of the socket is set to NULL by calling dst_negative_advice() but the refcount belonging to the socket is left unbalanced. The IPv4 version - ipv4_negative_advice() - is not affected by this bug. When the TCP connection times out ipv4_negative_advice() merely resets the sk_dst_cache of the socket while decrementing the refcount of the exception dst.

Ziming Zhang discovered that the DRM driver for VMware Virtual GPU did not properly handle certain error conditions, leading to a NULL pointer dereference. A local attacker could possibly trigger this vulnerability to cause a denial of service. Ye Zhang and Nicolas Wu discovered that the io_uring subsystem in the Linux kernel did not properly handle locking for rings with IOPOLL, leading to a double-free vulnerability. A local attacker could use this to cause a denial of service or possibly execute arbitrary code.

*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
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Complete
* Common Vulnerability Scoring System
SSVC
  • Decision:-
Exploitation
-
Automatable
-
Tech. Impact
-
* Organization's Worst-case Scenario
Timeline
  • 2024-12-27 CVE Reserved
  • 2024-12-27 CVE Published
  • 2025-01-20 CVE Updated
  • 2025-03-30 EPSS 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"
>= 2.6.34 < 5.4.287
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 2.6.34 < 5.4.287"
en
Affected
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
>= 2.6.34 < 5.10.231
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 2.6.34 < 5.10.231"
en
Affected
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
>= 2.6.34 < 5.15.174
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 2.6.34 < 5.15.174"
en
Affected
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
>= 2.6.34 < 6.1.120
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 2.6.34 < 6.1.120"
en
Affected
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
>= 2.6.34 < 6.6.66
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 2.6.34 < 6.6.66"
en
Affected
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
>= 2.6.34 < 6.12.5
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 2.6.34 < 6.12.5"
en
Affected
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
>= 2.6.34 < 6.13
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 2.6.34 < 6.13"
en
Affected
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
2.6.33.2
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version "2.6.33.2"
en
Affected