Cloudanix VulnDB

CVE-2024-35970

None

CVSS

—

EPSS

0.5%

Published

May 20, 2024

CISA due date

—

Cloudanix analysis

Schedule a fix SSVC: Track

A flaw in how the Linux kernel handles certain socket messages can cause the system to freeze under specific conditions involving out-of-band data.

Exploitation
Local Privilege
Attacker needs
Local User
Complexity
Moderate
Impact
Denial Of Service
Component
OS kernel
Class
Race Condition
Remediation
Upgrade
Effort
Medium
Patch risk
Low

What it actually does

Failure to clear unix_sock->oob_skb when an OOB skb is dequeued from the receive queue during recvmsg() without MSG_OOB, leaving stale state that violates uAPI expectations for OOB data and causes unix_gc_lock deadlock during garbage collection of sockets holding self-referenced file descriptors via SCM_RIGHTS.

Why it matters to the business

Kernel deadlocks or hangs on systems using AF_UNIX sockets with out-of-band data, leading to service disruption, potential DoS, and requiring reboots; widespread impact due to Linux kernel prevalence in servers, containers, and Android devices.

How an attack unfolds

An attacker creates a pair of connected AF_UNIX SOCK_STREAM sockets, sends a file descriptor referencing one socket to itself as OOB data via sendmsg with SCM_RIGHTS and MSG_OOB, performs a blocking recv on normal data, then triggers async close and garbage collection to hit the stale oob_skb condition and deadlock the unix_gc_lock.

How to fix it

Upgrade the Linux kernel to a version containing commit b4bc99d04c689b5652665394ae8d3e02fb754153 or later stable releases that clear oob_skb on dequeue in manage_oob().

How to confirm the fix worked

Verify the applied kernel contains the fix commit, reproduce the provided reproducer to confirm no deadlock occurs, and confirm unix_poll() no longer incorrectly sets EPOLLPRI after OOB data has been consumed.

Typical attack path

  1. Create socketpair(AF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM)
  2. Send self-referencing file descriptor as OOB data with SCM_RIGHTS and MSG_OOB
  3. Issue blocking recv() for normal data on the receiving socket
  4. Trigger async close on both sockets to unblock and invoke garbage collection
  5. Induce unix_gc_lock contention leading to deadlock due to uncleared oob_skb

How to detect it

Inspect kernel logs and crash dumps for repeated unix_gc_lock contention or deadlock traces involving af_unix garbage collection; correlate with processes performing sendmsg with MSG_OOB and SCM_RIGHTS on AF_UNIX sockets followed by close operations.

What your security team should do

  • Prioritize kernel upgrades to the fixed commit across all affected Linux distributions and Android devices
  • Monitor for unix_gc_lock contention or kernel hangs in production workloads using AF_UNIX sockets
  • Apply the patch immediately on systems where OOB data or SCM_RIGHTS are used with Unix domain sockets

The record

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: af_unix: Clear stale u->oob_skb. syzkaller started to report deadlock of unix_gc_lock after commit 4090fa373f0e ("af_unix: Replace garbage collection algorithm."), but it just uncovers the bug that has been there since commit 314001f0bf92 ("af_unix: Add OOB support"). The repro basically does the following. from socket import * from array import array c1, c2 = socketpair(AF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM) c1.sendmsg([b'a'], [(SOL_SOCKET, SCM_RIGHTS, array("i", [c2.fileno()]))], MSG_OOB) c2.recv(1) # blocked as no normal data in recv queue c2.close() # done async and unblock recv() c1.close() # done async and trigger GC A socket sends its file descriptor to itself as OOB data and tries to receive normal data, but finally recv() fails due to async close(). The problem here is wrong handling of OOB skb in manage_oob(). When recvmsg() is called without MSG_OOB, manage_oob() is called to check if the peeked skb is OOB skb. In such a case, manage_oob() pops it out of the receive queue but does not clear unix_sock(sk)->oob_skb. This is wrong in terms of uAPI. Let's say we send "hello" with MSG_OOB, and "world" without MSG_OOB. The 'o' is handled as OOB data. When recv() is called twice without MSG_OOB, the OOB data should be lost. >>> from socket import * >>> c1, c2 = socketpair(AF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM, 0) >>> c1.send(b'hello', MSG_OOB) # 'o' is OOB data 5 >>> c1.send(b'world') 5 >>> c2.recv(5) # OOB data is not received b'hell' >>> c2.recv(5) # OOB date is skipped b'world' >>> c2.recv(5, MSG_OOB) # This should return an error b'o' In the same situation, TCP actually returns -EINVAL for the last recv(). Also, if we do not clear unix_sk(sk)->oob_skb, unix_poll() always set EPOLLPRI even though the data has passed through by previous recv(). To avoid these issues, we must clear unix_sk(sk)->oob_skb when dequeuing it from recv queue. The reason why the old GC did not trigger the deadlock is because the old GC relied on the receive queue to detect the loop. When it is triggered, the socket with OOB data is marked as GC candidate because file refcount == inflight count (1). However, after traversing all inflight sockets, the socket still has a positive inflight count (1), thus the socket is excluded from candidates. Then, the old GC lose the chance to garbage-collect the socket. With the old GC, the repro continues to create true garbage that will never be freed nor detected by kmemleak as it's linked to the global inflight list. That's why we couldn't even notice the issue.

Affected packages

Ecosystem Package Introduced Fixed
Android :linux_kernel: :0 :2025-12-05
Debian:12 linux 0 6.1.90-1
Debian:13 linux 0 6.8.9-1
Linux Kernel 5.15.0 5.15.156
SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.14.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.14.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6-RT_Update_1 0 1-150600.1.5.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6_Update_2 0 1-150600.13.3.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-64kb 0 6.4.0-150600.23.14.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.14.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-default-base 0 6.4.0-150600.23.14.2.150600.12.4.3
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-source 0 6.4.0-150600.23.14.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-zfcpdump 0 6.4.0-150600.23.14.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-docs 0 6.4.0-150600.23.14.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-obs-build 0 6.4.0-150600.23.14.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-source 0 6.4.0-150600.23.14.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-syms 0 6.4.0-150600.23.14.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Legacy 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.14.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 kernel-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.8.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 kernel-source-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.8.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 kernel-syms-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.8.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.14.2
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.5.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-rt_debug 0 6.4.0-150600.10.5.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-source-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.5.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-syms-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.5.1
Ubuntu:14.04:LTS linux 0 3.11.0-12.19
Ubuntu:14.04:LTS linux-aws 0 4.4.0-1002.2
Ubuntu:14.04:LTS linux-azure 0 4.15.0-1023.24~14.04.1
Ubuntu:14.04:LTS linux-lts-xenial 0 4.4.0-13.29~14.04.1
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS linux 0 4.4.0-2.16
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS linux-aws 0 4.4.0-1001.10
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS linux-aws-hwe 0 4.15.0-1030.31~16.04.1
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS linux-azure 0 4.11.0-1009.9
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 4.10.0-1004.4
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS linux-hwe 0 4.8.0-39.42~16.04.1
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS linux-hwe-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS linux-kvm 0 4.4.0-1004.9
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 4.15.0-1007.9~16.04.1
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux 0 4.13.0-16.19
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-aws 0 4.15.0-1001.1
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-aws-5.0 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-aws-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-aws-5.4 0 5.4.0-1018.18~18.04.1
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure-4.15 0 4.15.0-1082.92
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure-5.4 0 5.4.0-1020.20~18.04.1
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gcp-4.15 0 4.15.0-1071.81
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.4 0 5.4.0-1019.19~18.04.2
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gke-4.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gke-5.4 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gkeop-5.4 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-hwe 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.4 0 5.4.0-37.41~18.04.1
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-hwe-edge 0 5.0.0-15.16~18.04.1
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-ibm-5.4 0 5.4.0-1010.11~18.04.2
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-kvm 0 4.15.0-1002.2
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oem 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 4.15.0-1007.9
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.0 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.4 0 5.4.0-1019.19~18.04.1
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-raspi-5.4 0 5.4.0-1013.13~18.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux 0 5.4.0-9.12
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws 0 5.4.0-1005.5
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.15 0 5.15.0-1065.71~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure 0 5.4.0-1006.6
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.15 0 5.15.0-1068.77~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-fde 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-fde-5.15 0 5.15.0-1068.77~20.04.1.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-bluefield 0 5.4.0-1007.10
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 5.4.0-1005.5
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.15 0 5.15.0-1065.73~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gke 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gke-5.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gkeop 0 5.4.0-1008.9
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gkeop-5.15 0 5.15.0-1048.55~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.15 0 5.15.0-116.126~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-ibm 0 5.4.0-1003.4
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-ibm-5.15 0 5.15.0-1058.61~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-intel-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-intel-iotg-5.15 0 5.15.0-1060.66~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-iot 0 5.4.0-1001.3
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-kvm 0 5.4.0-1004.4
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15 0 5.15.0-116.126~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15 0 5.15.0-1027.27~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.10 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.14 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.6 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 5.4.0-1005.5
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.15 0 5.15.0-1063.69~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-raspi 0 5.4.0-1007.7
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-raspi2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.15 0 5.15.0-1061.65~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-xilinx-zynqmp 0 5.4.0-1020.24
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux 0 5.15.0-116.126
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-allwinner-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws 0 5.15.0-1065.71
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-6.8 0 6.8.0-1011.12~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure 0 5.15.0-1068.77
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-6.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-6.8 0 6.8.0-1010.10~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fde 0 5.15.0-1068.77.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fde-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fde-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 5.15.0-1064.72
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-6.8 0 6.8.0-1010.11~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gke 0 5.15.0-1062.68
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gkeop 0 5.15.0-1048.55
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-6.8 0 6.8.0-38.38~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-ibm 0 5.15.0-1058.61
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-intel-iot-realtime 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-intel-iotg 0 5.15.0-1060.66
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-kvm 0 5.15.0-1062.67
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency 0 5.15.0-116.126
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 0 6.8.0-38.38.1~22.04.2
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia 0 5.15.0-1060.61
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.8 0 6.8.0-1009.9~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-tegra 0 5.15.0-1026.26
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-tegra-igx 0 5.15.0-1015.15
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oem-5.17 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oem-6.0 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oem-6.1 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oem-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 5.15.0-1063.69
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oracle-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oracle-6.8 0 6.8.0-1008.8~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-raspi 0 5.15.0-1058.61
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-realtime 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-riscv 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-riscv-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-riscv-6.8 0 6.8.0-38.38.1~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-starfive-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-starfive-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-starfive-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-xilinx-zynqmp 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-xilinx-zynqmp 0 5.15.0-1035.39
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS:for:NVIDIA:BlueField linux-bluefield 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux 0 6.8.0-38.38
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-aws 0 6.8.0-1011.12
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-azure 0 6.8.0-1010.10
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 6.8.0-1010.11
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gke 0 6.8.0-1006.9
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gkeop 0 6.8.0-1001.3
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-ibm 0 6.8.0-1008.8
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-intel 0 6.8.0-1007.14
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-lowlatency 0 6.8.0-38.38.1
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-nvidia 0 6.8.0-1009.9
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-nvidia-lowlatency 0 6.8.0-1009.9.1
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-oem-6.11 0 6.11.0-1007.7
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-oem-6.8 0 6.8.0-1008.8
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 6.8.0-1008.8
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-raspi 0 6.8.0-1007.7
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-raspi-realtime 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-realtime 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-riscv 0 6.8.0-38.38.1
Ubuntu:24.10 linux 0 6.11.0-7.7
Ubuntu:24.10 linux-aws 0 6.11.0-1002.2
Ubuntu:24.10 linux-azure 0 6.11.0-1003.3

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