high CVSS 7.8

CVE-2024-56772·Kernel vulnerability

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: kunit: string-stream: Fix a UAF bug in kunit_init_suite() In kunit_debugfs_create_suite(), if alloc_string_stream() fails in the kunit_suite_for_each_test_case() loop, the "suite->log = stream" has assigned before, and the error path only free the suite->log's stream memory but not set it to NULL, so the later string_stream_clear() of suite->log in kunit_init_suite() will cause below UAF bug. Set stream pointer to NULL after free to fix it. Unable to handle kernel paging request at virtual address 006440150000030d Mem abort info: ESR = 0x0000000096000004 EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits SET = 0, FnV = 0 EA = 0, S1PTW = 0 FSC = 0x04: level 0 translation fault Data abort info: ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000004, ISS2 = 0x00000000 CM = 0, WnR = 0, TnD = 0, TagAccess = 0 GCS = 0, Overlay = 0, DirtyBit = 0, Xs = 0 [006440150000030d] address between user and kernel address ranges Internal error: Oops: 0000000096000004 [#1] PREEMPT SMP Dumping ftrace buffer: (ftrace buffer empty) Modules linked in: iio_test_gts industrialio_gts_helper cfg80211 rfkill ipv6 [last unloaded: iio_test_gts] CPU: 5 UID: 0 PID: 6253 Comm: modprobe Tainted: G B W N 6.12.0-rc4+ #458 Tainted: [B]=BAD_PAGE, [W]=WARN, [N]=TEST Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT) pstate: 40000005 (nZcv daif -PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) pc : string_stream_clear+0x54/0x1ac lr : string_stream_clear+0x1a8/0x1ac sp : ffffffc080b47410 x29: ffffffc080b47410 x28: 006440550000030d x27: ffffff80c96b5e98 x26: ffffff80c96b5e80 x25: ffffffe461b3f6c0 x24: 0000000000000003 x23: ffffff80c96b5e88 x22: 1ffffff019cdf4fc x21: dfffffc000000000 x20: ffffff80ce6fa7e0 x19: 032202a80000186d x18: 0000000000001840 x17: 0000000000000000 x16: 0000000000000000 x15: ffffffe45c355cb4 x14: ffffffe45c35589c x13: ffffffe45c03da78 x12: ffffffb810168e75 x11: 1ffffff810168e74 x10: ffffffb810168e74 x9 : dfffffc000000000 x8 : 0000000000000004 x7 : 0000000000000003 x6 : 0000000000000001 x5 : ffffffc080b473a0 x4 : 0000000000000000 x3 : 0000000000000000 x2 : 0000000000000001 x1 : ffffffe462fbf620 x0 : dfffffc000000000 Call trace: string_stream_clear+0x54/0x1ac __kunit_test_suites_init+0x108/0x1d8 kunit_exec_run_tests+0xb8/0x100 kunit_module_notify+0x400/0x55c notifier_call_chain+0xfc/0x3b4 blocking_notifier_call_chain+0x68/0x9c do_init_module+0x24c/0x5c8 load_module+0x4acc/0x4e90 init_module_from_file+0xd4/0x128 idempotent_init_module+0x2d4/0x57c __arm64_sys_finit_module+0xac/0x100 invoke_syscall+0x6c/0x258 el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0x160/0x22c do_el0_svc+0x44/0x5c el0_svc+0x48/0xb8 el0t_64_sync_handler+0x13c/0x158 el0t_64_sync+0x190/0x194 Code: f9400753 d2dff800 f2fbffe0 d343fe7c (38e06b80) ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- Kernel panic - not syncing: Oops: Fatal exception

Severity
high
Software
Kernel
Fixed in
6.12.4
Published
2025-01-08

Affected versions

From: 6.7

Until: 6.12.4

Fixed in: 6.12.4

How to fix this CVE

Update your Linux kernel to version 6.12.4 or later to patch a use-after-free vulnerability in the KUnit testing framework. This bug could cause kernel panics during test suite initialization when memory allocation fails. Systems running kernels 6.7 through 6.12.3 should prioritize this update, especially if KUnit tests are executed during module loading.

sudo dnf update kernel kernel-devel

Defensia detects this vulnerability

How to check if you are affected

  1. Step 1: Check kernel version with `uname -r` and compare against 6.12.4 — versions 6.7 through 6.12.3 are vulnerable
  2. Step 2: Verify KUnit is enabled in your kernel with `grep CONFIG_KUNIT /boot/config-$(uname -r)` — if set to 'y' or 'm', the component is present
  3. Step 3: Search system logs for UAF panic signatures using `dmesg | grep -i 'string_stream_clear\|Unable to handle kernel paging\|kunit'` to identify crash events
  4. Step 4: After patching, confirm the new kernel version with `uname -r` and verify it shows 6.12.4 or later

FAQ

What is CVE-2024-56772?

This vulnerability is a use-after-free (UAF) bug in the Linux kernel's KUnit testing subsystem where freed memory is not properly nullified, allowing subsequent operations to access invalid addresses and trigger kernel panics during test suite initialization.

Is CVE-2024-56772 being actively exploited?

No, this vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog and no public exploits are available. It primarily affects systems running KUnit tests, which are typically limited to development and testing environments.

What versions of Kernel are affected by CVE-2024-56772?

Linux kernel versions 6.7 through 6.12.3 are vulnerable. The fix is available in kernel 6.12.4 and later stable releases.

How do I check if my server is vulnerable to CVE-2024-56772?

Run `uname -r` to get your kernel version. If it reports a version between 6.7 and 6.12.3 inclusive, your system is vulnerable. Additionally, check if KUnit is compiled into your kernel with `grep CONFIG_KUNIT /boot/config-$(uname -r)`.

Does Defensia detect CVE-2024-56772?

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-2024-56772 will appear in your dashboard with remediation steps and affected version ranges.

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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