CVE-2024-26998: serial: core: Clearing the circular buffer before NULLifying it
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
Remediation
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.