CVE-2024-26998: serial: core: Clearing the circular buffer before NULLifying it

Published May 1, 2024
·
Updated

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

serial: core: Clearing the circular buffer before NULLifying it

The circular buffer is NULLified in uartttyportshutdown() under the spin lock. However, the PM or other timer based callbacks may still trigger after this event without knowning that buffer pointer is not valid. Since the serial code is a bit inconsistent in checking the buffer state (some rely on the head-tail positions, some on the buffer pointer), it's better to have both aligned, i.e. buffer pointer to be NULL and head-tail possitions to be the same, meaning it's empty. This will prevent asynchronous calls to dereference NULL pointer as reported recently in 8250 case:

BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 00000cf5 Workqueue: pm pmruntimework EIP: serial8250txchars (drivers/tty/serial/8250/8250port.c:1809) ... ? serial8250txchars (drivers/tty/serial/8250/8250port.c:1809) starttx (drivers/tty/serial/8250/8250port.c:1551) serial8250starttx (drivers/tty/serial/8250/8250port.c:1654) serialportruntimesuspend (include/linux/serialcore.h:667 drivers/tty/serial/serialport.c:63) rpmcallback (drivers/base/power/runtime.c:393) ? serialportremove (drivers/tty/serial/serialport.c:50) rpmsuspend (drivers/base/power/runtime.c:447)

The proposed change will prevent ->starttx() to be called during suspend on shut down port.

Affected Software

8 affected componentsFixes available
Linux Linux kernel>=6.6.24<6.6.29
Linux Linux kernel>=6.7.12<6.8
Linux Linux kernel>=6.8<6.8.8
Linux Linux kernel=6.9-rc1
Linux Linux kernel=6.9-rc2
Linux Linux kernel=6.9-rc3
Linux Linux kernel=6.9-rc4
debian/linux
5.10.223-15.10.234-16.1.129-16.1.135-16.12.22-16.12.25-1

Event History

May 1, 2024
CVE Published
via MITRE·05:28 AM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·05:28 AM
Description
Data Sourced
via NVD·06:15 AM
RemedyDescriptionSeverityWeaknessAffected Software
Jul 11, 2024
Data Sourced
via Launchpad·07:45 PM
Description
Jan 3, 2025
Data Sourced
via Ubuntu·08:22 PM
RemedyDescriptionSeverityAffected Software

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of CVE-2024-26998?

CVE-2024-26998 has a moderate severity rating due to potential issues with the serial core in the Linux kernel.

2

How do I fix CVE-2024-26998?

To fix CVE-2024-26998, upgrade to the patched versions of the Linux kernel, such as 5.10.223-1, 5.10.226-1, 6.1.123-1, 6.1.128-1, or 6.12.12-1.

3

Which versions of the Linux kernel are affected by CVE-2024-26998?

CVE-2024-26998 affects Linux kernel versions between 6.6.24 and 6.6.29, as well as 6.7.12 to 6.8, and several release candidates from 6.9.

4

What components are impacted by CVE-2024-26998?

CVE-2024-26998 impacts the serial core subsystem within the Linux kernel, specifically during the shutdown of UART tty ports.

5

Is CVE-2024-26998 fixed in the latest Linux kernel release?

Yes, CVE-2024-26998 has been addressed in newer Linux kernel releases following the affected versions.

Contact

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