// For flags

CVE-2024-56786

bpf: put bpf_link's program when link is safe to be deallocated

Severity Score

7.8
*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: bpf: put bpf_link's program when link is safe to be deallocated In general, BPF link's underlying BPF program should be considered to be
reachable through attach hook -> link -> prog chain, and, pessimistically,
we have to assume that as long as link's memory is not safe to free,
attach hook's code might hold a pointer to BPF program and use it. As such, it's not (generally) correct to put link's program early before
waiting for RCU GPs to go through. More eager bpf_prog_put() that we
currently do is mostly correct due to BPF program's release code doing
similar RCU GP waiting, but as will be shown in the following patches,
BPF program can be non-sleepable (and, thus, reliant on only "classic"
RCU GP), while BPF link's attach hook can have sleepable semantics and
needs to be protected by RCU Tasks Trace, and for such cases BPF link
has to go through RCU Tasks Trace + "classic" RCU GPs before being
deallocated. And so, if we put BPF program early, we might free BPF
program before we free BPF link, leading to use-after-free situation. So, this patch defers bpf_prog_put() until we are ready to perform
bpf_link's deallocation. At worst, this delays BPF program freeing by
one extra RCU GP, but that seems completely acceptable. Alternatively,
we'd need more elaborate ways to determine BPF hook, BPF link, and BPF
program lifetimes, and how they relate to each other, which seems like
an unnecessary complication. Note, for most BPF links we still will perform eager bpf_prog_put() and
link dealloc, so for those BPF links there are no observable changes
whatsoever. Only BPF links that use deferred dealloc might notice
slightly delayed freeing of BPF programs. Also, to reduce code and logic duplication, extract program put + link
dealloc logic into bpf_link_dealloc() helper.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: put bpf_link's program when link is safe to be deallocated In general, BPF link's underlying BPF program should be considered to be reachable through attach hook -> link -> prog chain, and, pessimistically, we have to assume that as long as link's memory is not safe to free, attach hook's code might hold a pointer to BPF program and use it. As such, it's not (generally) correct to put link's program early before waiting for RCU GPs to go through. More eager bpf_prog_put() that we currently do is mostly correct due to BPF program's release code doing similar RCU GP waiting, but as will be shown in the following patches, BPF program can be non-sleepable (and, thus, reliant on only "classic" RCU GP), while BPF link's attach hook can have sleepable semantics and needs to be protected by RCU Tasks Trace, and for such cases BPF link has to go through RCU Tasks Trace + "classic" RCU GPs before being deallocated. And so, if we put BPF program early, we might free BPF program before we free BPF link, leading to use-after-free situation. So, this patch defers bpf_prog_put() until we are ready to perform bpf_link's deallocation. At worst, this delays BPF program freeing by one extra RCU GP, but that seems completely acceptable. Alternatively, we'd need more elaborate ways to determine BPF hook, BPF link, and BPF program lifetimes, and how they relate to each other, which seems like an unnecessary complication. Note, for most BPF links we still will perform eager bpf_prog_put() and link dealloc, so for those BPF links there are no observable changes whatsoever. Only BPF links that use deferred dealloc might notice slightly delayed freeing of BPF programs. Also, to reduce code and logic duplication, extract program put + link dealloc logic into bpf_link_dealloc() helper.

*Credits: N/A
CVSS Scores
Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Partial
* Common Vulnerability Scoring System
SSVC
  • Decision:-
Exploitation
-
Automatable
-
Tech. Impact
-
* Organization's Worst-case Scenario
Timeline
  • 2024-12-29 CVE Reserved
  • 2025-01-08 CVE Published
  • 2025-01-08 CVE Updated
  • 2025-01-09 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"
< 6.6.66
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " < 6.6.66"
en
Affected
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
< 6.12.5
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " < 6.12.5"
en
Affected
Linux
Search vendor "Linux"
Linux Kernel
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"
< 6.13-rc1
Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " < 6.13-rc1"
en
Affected