CVE-2024-42115: jffs2: Fix potential illegal address access in jffs2_free_inode

Published Jul 30, 2024
·
Updated

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

jffs2: Fix potential illegal address access in jffs2freeinode

During the stress testing of the jffs2 file system,the following abnormal printouts were found: [ 2430.649000] Unable to handle kernel paging request at virtual address 0069696969696948 [ 2430.649622] Mem abort info: [ 2430.649829] ESR = 0x96000004 [ 2430.650115] EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits [ 2430.650564] SET = 0, FnV = 0 [ 2430.650795] EA = 0, S1PTW = 0 [ 2430.651032] FSC = 0x04: level 0 translation fault [ 2430.651446] Data abort info: [ 2430.651683] ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000004 [ 2430.652001] CM = 0, WnR = 0 [ 2430.652558] [0069696969696948] address between user and kernel address ranges [ 2430.653265] Internal error: Oops: 96000004 [#1] PREEMPT SMP [ 2430.654512] CPU: 2 PID: 20919 Comm: cat Not tainted 5.15.25-g512f31242bf6 #33 [ 2430.655008] Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT) [ 2430.655517] pstate: 20000005 (nzCv daif -PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) [ 2430.656142] pc : kfree+0x78/0x348 [ 2430.656630] lr : jffs2freeinode+0x24/0x48 [ 2430.657051] sp : ffff800009eebd10 [ 2430.657355] x29: ffff800009eebd10 x28: 0000000000000001 x27: 0000000000000000 [ 2430.658327] x26: ffff000038f09d80 x25: 0080000000000000 x24: ffff800009d38000 [ 2430.658919] x23: 5a5a5a5a5a5a5a5a x22: ffff000038f09d80 x21: ffff8000084f0d14 [ 2430.659434] x20: ffff0000bf9a6ac0 x19: 0169696969696940 x18: 0000000000000000 [ 2430.659969] x17: ffff8000b6506000 x16: ffff800009eec000 x15: 0000000000004000 [ 2430.660637] x14: 0000000000000000 x13: 00000001000820a1 x12: 00000000000d1b19 [ 2430.661345] x11: 0004000800000000 x10: 0000000000000001 x9 : ffff8000084f0d14 [ 2430.662025] x8 : ffff0000bf9a6b40 x7 : ffff0000bf9a6b48 x6 : 0000000003470302 [ 2430.662695] x5 : ffff00002e41dcc0 x4 : ffff0000bf9aa3b0 x3 : 0000000003470342 [ 2430.663486] x2 : 0000000000000000 x1 : ffff8000084f0d14 x0 : fffffc0000000000 [ 2430.664217] Call trace: [ 2430.664528] kfree+0x78/0x348 [ 2430.664855] jffs2freeinode+0x24/0x48 [ 2430.665233] icallback+0x24/0x50 [ 2430.665528] rcudobatch+0x1ac/0x448 [ 2430.665892] rcucore+0x28c/0x3c8 [ 2430.666151] rcucoresi+0x18/0x28 [ 2430.666473] dosoftirq+0x138/0x3cc [ 2430.666781] irqexit+0xf0/0x110 [ 2430.667065] handledomainirq+0x6c/0x98 [ 2430.667447] gichandleirq+0xac/0xe8 [ 2430.667739] callonirqstack+0x28/0x54 The parameter passed to kfree was 5a5a5a5a, which corresponds to the target field of the jffsinodeinfo structure. It was found that all variables in the jffsinodeinfo structure were 5a5a5a5a, except for the first member sem. It is suspected that these variables are not initialized because they were set to 5a5a5a5a during memory testing, which is meant to detect uninitialized memory.The sem variable is initialized in the function jffs2iinitonce, while other members are initialized in the function jffs2initinodeinfo.

The function jffs2initinodeinfo is called after igetlocked, but in the igetlocked function, the destroyinode process is triggered, which releases the inode and consequently, the target member of the inode is not initialized.In concurrent high pressure scenarios, igetlocked may enter the destroyinode branch as described in the code.

Since the destroyinode functionality of jffs2 only releases the target, the fix method is to set target to NULL in jffs2iinitonce.

Affected Software

9 affected componentsFixes available
debian/linux
5.10.223-15.10.234-16.1.129-16.1.135-16.12.25-16.12.27-1
debian/linux-6.1
6.1.129-1~deb11u1
Linux Linux kernel<4.19.318
Linux Linux kernel>=4.20<5.4.280
Linux Linux kernel>=5.5<5.10.222
Linux Linux kernel>=5.11<5.15.163
Linux Linux kernel>=5.16<6.1.98
Linux Linux kernel>=6.2<6.6.39
Linux Linux kernel>=6.7<6.9.9

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

  1. Upgrade

    Upgrade debian/linux to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 5.10.223-1Fixed in 5.10.234-1Fixed in 6.1.129-1Fixed in 6.1.135-1Fixed in 6.12.25-1Fixed in 6.12.27-1
  2. Upgrade

    Upgrade debian/linux-6.1 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.1.129-1~deb11u1
  3. Configuration

    Modify jffs2_i_init_once so that the jffs_inode_info 'target' member is set to NULL. This prevents destroy_inode/destroy_inode-triggered paths (invoked during iget_locked) from later calling kfree() on an uninitialized 'target' value.

    Linux kernel jffs2 jffs2_i_init_once() initialization of jffs_inode_info->target = target = NULL

Event History

Jul 30, 2024
CVE Published
via MITRE·07:46 AM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·07:46 AM
DescriptionSeverity
Data Sourced
via NVD·08:15 AM
Description
Data Sourced
via NVD·08:15 AM
RemedySeverityAffected Software
May 3, 2025
Data Sourced
via Ubuntu·06:22 AM
RemedyDescriptionSeverityAffected Software

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of CVE-2024-42115?

CVE-2024-42115 has a moderate severity level due to the potential illegal address access in the jffs2 file system.

2

How do I fix CVE-2024-42115?

To fix CVE-2024-42115, update to the patched versions of the Linux kernel: 5.10.223-1, 5.10.226-1, 6.1.119-1, 6.1.123-1, 6.12.11-1, or 6.12.12-1.

3

What is jffs2 in relation to CVE-2024-42115?

jffs2 is a flash file system for Linux that is affected by the vulnerability CVE-2024-42115 which can lead to kernel paging request issues.

4

What issues were observed during the stress testing related to CVE-2024-42115?

During the stress testing of the jffs2 file system, abnormal printouts indicating an inability to handle kernel paging requests were observed.

5

Is CVE-2024-42115 specific to any Linux distributions?

CVE-2024-42115 primarily affects Debian-based systems using the specified versions of the Linux kernel.

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