high CVSS 7.1

CVE-2024-38606·Kernel vulnerability

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: crypto: qat - validate slices count returned by FW The function adf_send_admin_tl_start() enables the telemetry (TL) feature on a QAT device by sending the ICP_QAT_FW_TL_START message to the firmware. This triggers the FW to start writing TL data to a DMA buffer in memory and returns an array containing the number of accelerators of each type (slices) supported by this HW. The pointer to this array is stored in the adf_tl_hw_data data structure called slice_cnt. The array slice_cnt is then used in the function tl_print_dev_data() to report in debugfs only statistics about the supported accelerators. An incorrect value of the elements in slice_cnt might lead to an out of bounds memory read. At the moment, there isn't an implementation of FW that returns a wrong value, but for robustness validate the slice count array returned by FW.

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 QAT telemetry firmware validation vulnerability. This fix adds input validation for the slice count array returned by QAT device firmware, preventing potential out-of-bounds memory reads in the telemetry subsystem. Systems running kernel versions 6.9 through 6.9.2 should prioritize this update, particularly if QAT accelerator devices are in use.

sudo dnf update kernel

Defensia detects this vulnerability

How to check if you are affected

  1. Check kernel version: uname -r — confirm if version is between 6.9 and 6.9.2
  2. Verify QAT device presence: lspci | grep -i qat — check if Intel QAT accelerators are installed
  3. Check QAT driver status: lsmod | grep qat — confirm if QAT kernel modules are loaded
  4. After patching, reboot and verify: uname -r should show 6.9.3 or later

FAQ

What is CVE-2024-38606?

This vulnerability exists in the Linux kernel's QAT (QuickAssist Technology) telemetry feature, where firmware-returned slice count values were not validated before being used to read memory, potentially causing out-of-bounds reads in debugfs reporting functions.

Is CVE-2024-38606 being actively exploited?

No, this vulnerability is not currently being actively exploited in the wild, and no public exploit code is available. It requires local access and QAT hardware to be present.

What versions of Kernel are affected by CVE-2024-38606?

Linux kernel versions 6.9 through 6.9.2 are affected. Version 6.9.3 and later include the fix.

How do I check if my server is vulnerable to CVE-2024-38606?

Run uname -r to check your kernel version. If it shows 6.9.0, 6.9.1, or 6.9.2, and lspci | grep -i qat returns QAT devices, your system is vulnerable.

Does Defensia detect CVE-2024-38606?

Yes — Defensia's CVE advisory scanner compares installed package versions against the NVD database. If the Linux kernel is installed on a monitored server, CVE-2024-38606 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-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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