high CVSS 7.1

CVE-2024-38599·Kernel vulnerability

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: jffs2: prevent xattr node from overflowing the eraseblock Add a check to make sure that the requested xattr node size is no larger than the eraseblock minus the cleanmarker. Unlike the usual inode nodes, the xattr nodes aren't split into parts and spread across multiple eraseblocks, which means that a xattr node must not occupy more than one eraseblock. If the requested xattr value is too large, the xattr node can spill onto the next eraseblock, overwriting the nodes and causing errors such as: jffs2: argh. node added in wrong place at 0x0000b050(2) jffs2: nextblock 0x0000a000, expected at 0000b00c jffs2: error: (823) do_verify_xattr_datum: node CRC failed at 0x01e050, read=0xfc892c93, calc=0x000000 jffs2: notice: (823) jffs2_get_inode_nodes: Node header CRC failed at 0x01e00c. {848f,2fc4,0fef511f,59a3d171} jffs2: Node at 0x0000000c with length 0x00001044 would run over the end of the erase block jffs2: Perhaps the file system was created with the wrong erase size? jffs2: jffs2_scan_eraseblock(): Magic bitmask 0x1985 not found at 0x00000010: 0x1044 instead This breaks the filesystem and can lead to KASAN crashes such as: BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in jffs2_sum_add_kvec+0x125e/0x15d0 Read of size 4 at addr ffff88802c31e914 by task repro/830 CPU: 0 PID: 830 Comm: repro Not tainted 6.9.0-rc3+ #1 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS Arch Linux 1.16.3-1-1 04/01/2014 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0xc6/0x120 print_report+0xc4/0x620 ? __virt_addr_valid+0x308/0x5b0 kasan_report+0xc1/0xf0 ? jffs2_sum_add_kvec+0x125e/0x15d0 ? jffs2_sum_add_kvec+0x125e/0x15d0 jffs2_sum_add_kvec+0x125e/0x15d0 jffs2_flash_direct_writev+0xa8/0xd0 jffs2_flash_writev+0x9c9/0xef0 ? __x64_sys_setxattr+0xc4/0x160 ? do_syscall_64+0x69/0x140 ? entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e [...] Found by Linux Verification Center (linuxtesting.org) with Syzkaller.

Severity
high
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 the jffs2 xattr node overflow vulnerability. This fix adds validation to prevent extended attribute nodes from exceeding eraseblock boundaries, which was causing filesystem corruption and kernel crashes. Apply the update immediately to all systems using kernel versions 6.9.0 through 6.9.2.

sudo dnf update kernel kernel-devel

Defensia detects this vulnerability

How to check if you are affected

  1. Check installed kernel version: uname -r — verify if it falls within 6.9.0 to 6.9.2 range
  2. Check if jffs2 filesystem is in use: mount | grep jffs2 — if output is empty, this CVE has minimal impact on your system
  3. Search system logs for jffs2 corruption indicators: grep -i 'jffs2.*node added in wrong place\|nextblock.*expected\|node CRC failed' /var/log/kern.log /var/log/syslog — these errors indicate active exploitation or corruption
  4. Verify kernel patch applied: grep 'xattr node from overflowing' /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/fs/jffs2/xattr.c || echo 'Vulnerable' — patch presence indicates fix is applied

FAQ

What is CVE-2024-38599?

CVE-2024-38599 is a buffer overflow vulnerability in the Linux kernel's JFFS2 filesystem implementation where extended attribute (xattr) nodes can exceed the size limits of a single eraseblock, causing filesystem corruption, data loss, and kernel crashes via KASAN out-of-bounds errors.

Is CVE-2024-38599 being actively exploited?

No, CVE-2024-38599 is not currently listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog and has no public exploit code available. However, it can be triggered by unprivileged local users via xattr syscalls.

What versions of Kernel are affected by CVE-2024-38599?

Linux kernel versions 6.9.0 through 6.9.2 are vulnerable. The fix is included in kernel 6.9.3 and later stable releases.

How do I check if my server is vulnerable to CVE-2024-38599?

Run 'uname -r' and check if the output shows 6.9.0, 6.9.1, or 6.9.2. If yes, your system is vulnerable unless a backported patch has been applied. Then verify jffs2 is mounted with 'mount | grep jffs2'.

Does Defensia detect CVE-2024-38599?

Yes — Defensia's CVE advisory scanner compares installed kernel versions against the NVD database. If your kernel version falls within 6.9.0–6.9.2, CVE-2024-38599 will appear in your security 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-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-2024-38612CVSS 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.
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-2021-47548CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ethernet: hisilicon: hns: hns_dsaf_misc: fix a possible array overflow in hns_dsaf_ge_srst_by_port() The if statement: if (port >= DSAF_GE_NUM) return; limits the value of port less than DSAF_GE_NUM (i.e., 8). However, if the value of port is 6 or 7, an array overflow could occur: port_rst_off = dsaf_dev->mac_cb[port]->port_rst_off; because the length of dsaf_dev->mac_cb is DSAF_MAX_PORT_NUM (i.e., 6). To fix this possible array overflow, we first check port and if it is greater than or equal to DSAF_MAX_PORT_NUM, the function returns.

References

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