critical CVSS 9.8

CVE-2024-38541·Kernel vulnerability

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: of: module: add buffer overflow check in of_modalias() In of_modalias(), if the buffer happens to be too small even for the 1st snprintf() call, the len parameter will become negative and str parameter (if not NULL initially) will point beyond the buffer's end. Add the buffer overflow check after the 1st snprintf() call and fix such check after the strlen() call (accounting for the terminating NUL char).

Severity
critical
Software
Kernel
Fixed in
6.9.3
Published
2024-06-19

Affected versions

From: 6.9

Until: 6.9.3

Fixed in: 6.9.3

How to fix this CVE

Update your Linux kernel to version 6.9.3 or later to patch a critical buffer overflow vulnerability in the device tree modalias function. Systems running kernel versions 6.9 through 6.9.2 should prioritize this update immediately, as the flaw can lead to memory corruption and potential privilege escalation. Apply the patch through your distribution's standard kernel update mechanism.

sudo dnf update kernel kernel-devel

Defensia detects this vulnerability

How to check if you are affected

  1. Check your kernel version: uname -r — vulnerable versions are 6.9.0, 6.9.1, and 6.9.2
  2. Verify the of_modalias function is compiled in your kernel: grep -i modalias /boot/config-$(uname -r) — look for CONFIG_OF_DYNAMIC=y
  3. Monitor kernel logs for memory errors: dmesg | grep -i 'buffer\|overflow\|fault' — exploitation may cause kernel panic or warning messages
  4. Confirm patch application after update: uname -r should show 6.9.3 or later

FAQ

What is CVE-2024-38541?

This is a buffer overflow vulnerability in the Linux kernel's device tree handling code. When the of_modalias() function receives a buffer that is too small, it can write beyond allocated memory boundaries, potentially leading to kernel memory corruption and privilege escalation attacks.

Is CVE-2024-38541 being actively exploited?

No, this vulnerability is not currently listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog and no public exploits have been disclosed, though the critical CVSS score of 9.8 warrants immediate patching.

What versions of Kernel are affected by CVE-2024-38541?

Linux kernel versions 6.9.0 through 6.9.2 are affected. Version 6.9.3 and later include the fix. Earlier kernel branches (6.8 and below) are not impacted.

How do I check if my server is vulnerable to CVE-2024-38541?

Run `uname -r` and check if the output shows 6.9.0, 6.9.1, or 6.9.2. If your kernel version is 6.9.3 or higher, or uses a different major version series, you are not vulnerable.

Does Defensia detect CVE-2024-38541?

Yes — Defensia's CVE advisory scanner compares installed package versions against the NVD database. If Kernel is installed on a monitored server, CVE-2024-38541 will appear in your dashboard with remediation steps.

Related Kernel CVEs

CVE-2024-42256CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: cifs: Fix server re-repick on subrequest retry When a subrequest is marked for needing retry, netfs will call cifs_prepare_write() which will make cifs repick the server for the op before renegotiating credits; it then calls cifs_issue_write() which invokes smb2_async_writev() - which re-repicks the server. If a different server is then selected, this causes the increment of server->in_flight to happen against one record and the decrement to happen against another, leading to misaccounting. Fix this by just removing the repick code in smb2_async_writev(). As this is only called from netfslib-driven code, cifs_prepare_write() should always have been called first, and so server should never be NULL and the preparatory step is repeated in the event that we do a retry. The problem manifests as a warning looking something like: WARNING: CPU: 4 PID: 72896 at fs/smb/client/smb2ops.c:97 smb2_add_credits+0x3f0/0x9e0 [cifs] ... RIP: 0010:smb2_add_credits+0x3f0/0x9e0 [cifs] ... smb2_writev_callback+0x334/0x560 [cifs] cifs_demultiplex_thread+0x77a/0x11b0 [cifs] kthread+0x187/0x1d0 ret_from_fork+0x34/0x60 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 Which may be triggered by a number of different xfstests running against an Azure server in multichannel mode. generic/249 seems the most repeatable, but generic/215, generic/249 and generic/308 may also show it.
CVE-2022-48716CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ASoC: codecs: wcd938x: fix incorrect used of portid Mixer controls have the channel id in mixer->reg, which is not same as port id. port id should be derived from chan_info array. So fix this. Without this, its possible that we could corrupt struct wcd938x_sdw_priv by accessing port_map array out of range with channel id instead of port id.
CVE-2024-36031CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: keys: Fix overwrite of key expiration on instantiation The expiry time of a key is unconditionally overwritten during instantiation, defaulting to turn it permanent. This causes a problem for DNS resolution as the expiration set by user-space is overwritten to TIME64_MAX, disabling further DNS updates. Fix this by restoring the condition that key_set_expiry is only called when the pre-parser sets a specific expiry.
CVE-2024-38623CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs/ntfs3: Use variable length array instead of fixed size Should fix smatch warning: ntfs_set_label() error: __builtin_memcpy() 'uni->name' too small (20 vs 256)
CVE-2024-38612CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipv6: sr: fix invalid unregister error path The error path of seg6_init() is wrong in case CONFIG_IPV6_SEG6_LWTUNNEL is not defined. In that case if seg6_hmac_init() fails, the genl_unregister_family() isn't called. This issue exist since commit 46738b1317e1 ("ipv6: sr: add option to control lwtunnel support"), and commit 5559cea2d5aa ("ipv6: sr: fix possible use-after-free and null-ptr-deref") replaced unregister_pernet_subsys() with genl_unregister_family() in this error path.

References

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