Strix
26.1K

CVE-2024-56644

MEDIUMCVSS 5.5/10EPSS 0.23%

Last modified

CVE-2024-56644 is a medium-severity vulnerability rated 5.5/10 on the CVSS scale. In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/ipv6: release expired exception dst cached in socket Dst objects get leaked in ip6_negative_advice() when this function is executed for an expired IPv6 route located in the exception table. There are several conditions that must be fulfilled for the leak to occur: * an ICMPv6 packet indicating a change of the MTU for the path is received, resulting in an exception dst being created * a TCP connection that uses the exception dst for routing packets must start timing out so that TCP begins retransmissions * after the exception dst expires, the FIB6 garbage collector must not run before TCP executes ip6_negative_advice() for the expired exception dst When TCP executes ip6_negative_advice() for an exception dst that has expired and if no other socket holds a reference to the exception dst, the refcount of the exception dst is 2, which corresponds to the increment made by dst_init() and the increment made by the TCP socket for which the connection is timing out. EPSS estimates a 0.23% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/ipv6: release expired exception dst cached in socket Dst objects get leaked in ip6_negative_advice() when this function is executed for an expired IPv6 route located in the exception table. There are several conditions that must be fulfilled for the leak to occur: * an ICMPv6 packet indicating a change of the MTU for the path is received, resulting in an exception dst being created * a TCP connection that uses the exception dst for routing packets must start timing out so that TCP begins retransmissions * after the exception dst expires, the FIB6 garbage collector must not run before TCP executes ip6_negative_advice() for the expired exception dst When TCP executes ip6_negative_advice() for an exception dst that has expired and if no other socket holds a reference to the exception dst, the refcount of the exception dst is 2, which corresponds to the increment made by dst_init() and the increment made by the TCP socket for which the connection is timing out. The refcount made by the socket is never released. The refcount of the dst is decremented in sk_dst_reset() but that decrement is counteracted by a dst_hold() intentionally placed just before the sk_dst_reset() in ip6_negative_advice(). After ip6_negative_advice() has finished, there is no other object tied to the dst. The socket lost its reference stored in sk_dst_cache and the dst is no longer in the exception table. The exception dst becomes a leaked object. As a result of this dst leak, an unbalanced refcount is reported for the loopback device of a net namespace being destroyed under kernels that do not contain e5f80fcf869a ("ipv6: give an IPv6 dev to blackhole_netdev"): unregister_netdevice: waiting for lo to become free. Usage count = 2 Fix the dst leak by removing the dst_hold() in ip6_negative_advice(). The patch that introduced the dst_hold() in ip6_negative_advice() was 92f1655aa2b22 ("net: fix __dst_negative_advice() race"). But 92f1655aa2b22 merely refactored the code with regards to the dst refcount so the issue was present even before 92f1655aa2b22. The bug was introduced in 54c1a859efd9f ("ipv6: Don't drop cache route entry unless timer actually expired.") where the expired cached route is deleted and the sk_dst_cache member of the socket is set to NULL by calling dst_negative_advice() but the refcount belonging to the socket is left unbalanced. The IPv4 version - ipv4_negative_advice() - is not affected by this bug. When the TCP connection times out ipv4_negative_advice() merely resets the sk_dst_cache of the socket while decrementing the refcount of the exception dst.

Metrics

CVSS 3.1
5.5/10

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS Probability
0.23%

13.8th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Affected Software

VendorProductVersionsUpdate
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 2.6.33.2, < 2.6.34—
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 2.6.34.1, < 5.4.287—
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 5.5, < 5.10.231—
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 5.11, < 5.15.174—
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 5.16, < 6.1.120—
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 6.2, < 6.6.66—
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 6.7, < 6.12.5—
LinuxLinux Kernel2.6.34—
LinuxLinux Kernel6.13Rc1
DebianDebian Linux11.0—

References

Timeline

Published
Last Modified
Status
Analyzed

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2024-56644?
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/ipv6: release expired exception dst cached in socket Dst objects get leaked in ip6_negative_advice() when this function is executed for an expired IPv6 route located in the exception table. There are several conditions that must be fulfilled for the leak to occur: * an ICMPv6 packet indicating a change of the MTU for the path is received, resulting in an exception dst being created * a TCP connection that uses the exception dst for routing packets must start timing out so that TCP begins retransmissions * after the exception dst expires, the FIB6 garbage collector must not run before TCP executes ip6_negative_advice() for the expired exception dst When TCP executes ip6_negative_advice() for an exception dst that has expired and if no other socket holds a reference to the exception dst, the refcount of the exception dst is 2, which corresponds to the increment made by dst_init() and the increment made by the TCP socket for which the connection is timing out. The refcount made by the socket is never released. The refcount of the dst is decremented in sk_dst_reset() but that decrement is counteracted by a dst_hold() intentionally placed just before the sk_dst_reset() in ip6_negative_advice(). After ip6_negative_advice() has finished, there is no other object tied to the dst. The socket lost its reference stored in sk_dst_cache and the dst is no longer in the exception table. The exception dst becomes a leaked object. As a result of this dst leak, an unbalanced refcount is reported for the loopback device of a net namespace being destroyed under kernels that do not contain e5f80fcf869a ("ipv6: give an IPv6 dev to blackhole_netdev"): unregister_netdevice: waiting for lo to become free. Usage count = 2 Fix the dst leak by removing the dst_hold() in ip6_negative_advice(). The patch that introduced the dst_hold() in ip6_negative_advice() was 92f1655aa2b22 ("net: fix __dst_negative_advice() race"). But 92f1655aa2b22 merely refactored the code with regards to the dst refcount so the issue was present even before 92f1655aa2b22. The bug was introduced in 54c1a859efd9f ("ipv6: Don't drop cache route entry unless timer actually expired.") where the expired cached route is deleted and the sk_dst_cache member of the socket is set to NULL by calling dst_negative_advice() but the refcount belonging to the socket is left unbalanced. The IPv4 version - ipv4_negative_advice() - is not affected by this bug. When the TCP connection times out ipv4_negative_advice() merely resets the sk_dst_cache of the socket while decrementing the refcount of the exception dst.
How severe is CVE-2024-56644?
CVE-2024-56644 has a CVSS score of 5.5/10 (MEDIUM severity). The EPSS model estimates a 0.23% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How do I fix CVE-2024-56644?
Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.

Are you affected by CVE-2024-56644?

Run a free Strix scan to check your systems for this vulnerability.

Scan your code now

Source: NVD / NIST