Cloudanix VulnDB

CVE-2024-36963

None

CVSS

—

EPSS

0.2%

Published

Jun 3, 2024

CISA due date

—

Cloudanix analysis

Monitor only SSVC: Track

A bug in the Linux kernel's tracing system could let some files keep old access rules even after an admin tries to reset them all at once, potentially allowing unwanted access.

Exploitation
Local Privilege
Attacker needs
High Privilege
Complexity
High
Impact
Data Exposure
Component
OS kernel
Class
Misconfiguration
Remediation
Upgrade
Effort
Medium
Patch risk
Low

What it actually does

The vulnerability allows permissions set on individual tracefs files or directories to persist across remounts that specify new permissions, unlike unmodified entries which are updated to match the root inode.

Why it matters to the business

Administrators may incorrectly believe that remounting the tracefs filesystem with permission options will enforce uniform access controls, leaving some files with stale permissions that could permit unauthorized access or modification.

How an attack unfolds

An attacker modifies permissions on a specific tracefs file like current_tracer by changing its group ownership. When an administrator later remounts the filesystem with a gid option expecting all permissions to reset, the modified file retains its custom permissions, allowing the attacker continued access.

How to fix it

Upgrade the Linux kernel to version 6.6.31 or later, or apply the commit 5f91fc82794d4a6e41cdcd02d00baa377d94ca78 in the stable git repository.

How to confirm the fix worked

Verify the running kernel version is at least 6.6.31. Test by setting custom permissions on a tracefs file, remounting with gid option, and confirming the permissions are reset.

Typical attack path

  1. Identify tracefs mount point
  2. Modify permissions on a target file using chgrp or chmod
  3. Wait for or trigger remount with permission options
  4. Access the file using retained custom permissions

How to detect it

Examine system logs for remount operations on tracefs and check file permissions in /sys/kernel/tracing for inconsistencies; look for manual permission changes via audit logs.

What your security team should do

  • Prioritize kernel updates to the fixed versions
  • Audit tracefs mounts for custom permission settings
  • Monitor for unexpected permission changes in /sys/kernel/tracing

The record

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tracefs: Reset permissions on remount if permissions are options There's an inconsistency with the way permissions are handled in tracefs. Because the permissions are generated when accessed, they default to the root inode's permission if they were never set by the user. If the user sets the permissions, then a flag is set and the permissions are saved via the inode (for tracefs files) or an internal attribute field (for eventfs). But if a remount happens that specify the permissions, all the files that were not changed by the user gets updated, but the ones that were are not. If the user were to remount the file system with a given permission, then all files and directories within that file system should be updated. This can cause security issues if a file's permission was updated but the admin forgot about it. They could incorrectly think that remounting with permissions set would update all files, but miss some. For example: # cd /sys/kernel/tracing # chgrp 1002 current_tracer # ls -l [..] -rw-r----- 1 root root 0 May 1 21:25 buffer_size_kb -rw-r----- 1 root root 0 May 1 21:25 buffer_subbuf_size_kb -r--r----- 1 root root 0 May 1 21:25 buffer_total_size_kb -rw-r----- 1 root lkp 0 May 1 21:25 current_tracer -rw-r----- 1 root root 0 May 1 21:25 dynamic_events -r--r----- 1 root root 0 May 1 21:25 dyn_ftrace_total_info -r--r----- 1 root root 0 May 1 21:25 enabled_functions Where current_tracer now has group "lkp". # mount -o remount,gid=1001 . # ls -l -rw-r----- 1 root tracing 0 May 1 21:25 buffer_size_kb -rw-r----- 1 root tracing 0 May 1 21:25 buffer_subbuf_size_kb -r--r----- 1 root tracing 0 May 1 21:25 buffer_total_size_kb -rw-r----- 1 root lkp 0 May 1 21:25 current_tracer -rw-r----- 1 root tracing 0 May 1 21:25 dynamic_events -r--r----- 1 root tracing 0 May 1 21:25 dyn_ftrace_total_info -r--r----- 1 root tracing 0 May 1 21:25 enabled_functions Everything changed but the "current_tracer". Add a new link list that keeps track of all the tracefs_inodes which has the permission flags that tell if the file/dir should use the root inode's permission or not. Then on remount, clear all the flags so that the default behavior of using the root inode's permission is done for all files and directories.

Affected packages

Ecosystem Package Introduced Fixed
Debian:13 linux 0 6.8.11-1
Debian:14 linux 0 6.8.11-1
Linux Kernel 0 6.6.31
Mageia:9 dwarves 0 1.27-1.mga9
Mageia:9 kernel 0 6.6.37-1.mga9
Mageia:9 kernel-linus 0 6.6.37-1.mga9
Mageia:9 kmod-virtualbox 0 7.0.18-50.mga9
Mageia:9 kmod-xtables-addons 0 3.24-59.mga9
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 5.15.0-1014.18~20.04.1
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 5.15.0-1007.8~20.04.1
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 5.15.0-1019.24~20.04.1.1
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 5.15.0-1006.9~20.04.1
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 5.15.0-1003.5~20.04.2
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 5.15.0-33.34~20.04.1
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 5.15.0-1033.36~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-intel-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-intel-iotg-5.15 0 5.15.0-1003.5~20.04.1
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 5.15.0-33.34~20.04.1
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 5.15.0-1007.9~20.04.1
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 5.15.0-1015.17~20.04.1
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 5.13.0-19.19
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-allwinner-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws 0 5.13.0-1005.6
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 6.5.0-1008.8~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-6.8 0 6.8.0-1013.14~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure 0 5.13.0-1006.7
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 6.5.0-1007.7~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-6.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-6.8 0 6.8.0-1012.14~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fde 0 5.15.0-1019.24.1
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 5.13.0-1005.6
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 6.5.0-1010.10~22.04.3
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-6.8 0 6.8.0-1012.13~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gke 0 5.15.0-1002.2
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gkeop 0 5.15.0-1001.2
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 6.5.0-14.14~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-6.8 0 6.8.0-40.40~22.04.3
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-ibm 0 5.15.0-1002.2
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-intel-iot-realtime 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-intel-iot-realtime 0 5.15.0-1021.26
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-intel-iotg 0 5.15.0-1004.6
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-kvm 0 5.13.0-1004.4
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency 0 5.15.0-22.22
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 6.5.0-14.14.1~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 0 6.8.0-40.40.1~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia 0 5.15.0-1005.5
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.5 0 6.5.0-1004.4
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.8 0 6.8.0-1011.11~22.04.1
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 6.5.0-1003.3
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 5.13.0-1008.10
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oracle-6.5 0 6.5.0-1013.13~22.04.4
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oracle-6.8 0 6.8.0-1010.10~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-raspi 0 5.13.0-1008.9
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 6.5.0-17.17.1.1~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-riscv-6.8 0 6.8.0-40.40.1~22.04.1
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 6.5.0-1007.8~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-xilinx-zynqmp 0 5.15.0-1022.26
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS:for:NVIDIA:BlueField linux-bluefield 0 5.15.0-1011.13
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux 0 6.8.0-40.40
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-aws 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-aws 0 6.8.0-1013.14
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-azure 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-azure 0 6.8.0-1012.14
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 6.8.0-1012.13
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gke 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gke 0 6.8.0-1008.11
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gkeop 0 6.8.0-1001.3
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-ibm 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-ibm 0 6.8.0-1010.10
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-intel 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-lowlatency 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-lowlatency 0 6.8.0-40.40.1
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-nvidia 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-nvidia 0 6.8.0-1011.11
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-nvidia-lowlatency 0 6.8.0-1011.11.1
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-oem-6.11 0 6.11.0-1007.7
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-oem-6.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-oem-6.8 0 6.8.0-1010.10
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 6.8.0-1010.10
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-raspi 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-raspi 0 6.8.0-1009.10
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 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-riscv 0 6.8.0-40.40.1
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
Ubuntu:24.10 linux-gcp 0 6.11.0-1001.1
Ubuntu:24.10 linux-lowlatency 0 6.11.0-1002.2
Ubuntu:24.10 linux-oracle 0 6.11.0-1004.4
Ubuntu:24.10 linux-raspi 0 6.11.0-1003.3
Ubuntu:24.10 linux-realtime 0 6.11.0-1001.1
Ubuntu:24.10 linux-riscv 0 6.11.0-8.8.1
Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS linux-hwe-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-aws-5.0 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-aws-5.3 0 No fix

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