high CVSS 8.2

CVE-2024-38616·Kernel vulnerability

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: carl9170: re-fix fortified-memset warning The carl9170_tx_release() function sometimes triggers a fortified-memset warning in my randconfig builds: In file included from include/linux/string.h:254, from drivers/net/wireless/ath/carl9170/tx.c:40: In function 'fortify_memset_chk', inlined from 'carl9170_tx_release' at drivers/net/wireless/ath/carl9170/tx.c:283:2, inlined from 'kref_put' at include/linux/kref.h:65:3, inlined from 'carl9170_tx_put_skb' at drivers/net/wireless/ath/carl9170/tx.c:342:9: include/linux/fortify-string.h:493:25: error: call to '__write_overflow_field' declared with attribute warning: detected write beyond size of field (1st parameter); maybe use struct_group()? [-Werror=attribute-warning] 493 | __write_overflow_field(p_size_field, size); Kees previously tried to avoid this by using memset_after(), but it seems this does not fully address the problem. I noticed that the memset_after() here is done on a different part of the union (status) than the original cast was from (rate_driver_data), which may confuse the compiler. Unfortunately, the memset_after() trick does not work on driver_rates[] because that is part of an anonymous struct, and I could not get struct_group() to do this either. Using two separate memset() calls on the two members does address the warning though.

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 the Linux kernel to version 6.9.3 or later to resolve this vulnerability. The issue stems from a memory sanitization routine in the carl9170 WiFi driver that triggered compiler warnings due to improper handling of union members during buffer clearing. Apply the patch through your distribution's kernel update mechanism to ensure the corrected memset operations are in place.

sudo dnf update kernel kernel-devel

Defensia detects this vulnerability

How to check if you are affected

Step 1: Check your kernel version with `uname -r` and compare against 6.9.3 (vulnerable if 6.9.0, 6.9.1, 6.9.2, or 6.9.3 with this specific driver issue)
Step 2: Verify if carl9170 WiFi driver is loaded by running `lsmod | grep carl9170`
Step 3: Check kernel logs for buffer overflow warnings or memset-related compiler warnings using `dmesg | grep -i 'memset\|fortify\|overflow'`
Step 4: After updating, confirm the new kernel version with `uname -r` and verify it is 6.9.3 or later

FAQ

What is CVE-2024-38616?

CVE-2024-38616 is a kernel vulnerability in the carl9170 WiFi driver where improper memory clearing operations trigger fortified-memset compiler warnings and potential buffer overflow conditions. The vulnerability affects the tx.c module's transmission release function when handling driver rate data structures.

Is CVE-2024-38616 being actively exploited?

No, this vulnerability is not listed as actively exploited by CISA, and no public exploits are currently available. The issue is primarily a kernel hardening concern rather than an actively weaponized threat.

What versions of Kernel are affected by CVE-2024-38616?

Kernel versions 6.9.0 through 6.9.3 are affected. The vulnerability was resolved in kernel 6.9.3 with corrected memset operations in the carl9170 driver.

How do I check if my server is vulnerable to CVE-2024-38616?

Run `uname -r` to check your kernel version; if it shows 6.9.0, 6.9.1, or 6.9.2, you are vulnerable. For 6.9.3, verify the patch was applied by checking `grep -r 'memset_after\|driver_rates' /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/ath/carl9170/` or review kernel release notes.

Does Defensia detect CVE-2024-38616?

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-2024-38616 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-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.

References

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