CVE-2024-36971

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

net: fix __dst_negative_advice() race

__dst_negative_advice() does not enforce proper RCU rules when sk->dst_cache must be cleared, leading to possible UAF.

RCU rules are that we must first clear sk->sk_dst_cache, then call dst_release(old_dst).

Note that sk_dst_reset(sk) is implementing this protocol correctly, while __dst_negative_advice() uses the wrong order.

Given that ip6_negative_advice() has special logic against RTF_CACHE, this means each of the three ->negative_advice() existing methods must perform the sk_dst_reset() themselves.

Note the check against NULL dst is centralized in __dst_negative_advice(), there is no need to duplicate it in various callbacks.

Many thanks to Clement Lecigne for tracking this issue.

This old bug became visible after the blamed commit, using UDP sockets.

Weakness

The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory “belongs” to the code that operates on the new pointer.

Affected Software

Potential Mitigations

References

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/051c0bde9f0450a2ec3d62a86d2a0d2fad117f13
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2295a7ef5c8c49241bff769e7826ef2582e532a6
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5af198c387128a9d2ddd620b0f0803564a4d4508
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/81dd3c82a456b0015461754be7cb2693991421b4
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/92f1655aa2b2294d0b49925f3b875a634bd3b59e
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b8af8e6118a6605f0e495a58d591ca94a85a50fc
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/db0082825037794c5dba9959c9de13ca34cc5e72
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/eacb8b195579c174a6d3e12a9690b206eb7f28cf
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/051c0bde9f0450a2ec3d62a86d2a0d2fad117f13
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2295a7ef5c8c49241bff769e7826ef2582e532a6
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5af198c387128a9d2ddd620b0f0803564a4d4508
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/81dd3c82a456b0015461754be7cb2693991421b4
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/92f1655aa2b2294d0b49925f3b875a634bd3b59e
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b8af8e6118a6605f0e495a58d591ca94a85a50fc
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/db0082825037794c5dba9959c9de13ca34cc5e72
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/eacb8b195579c174a6d3e12a9690b206eb7f28cf