Cloudanix VulnDB

CVE-2024-43855

Medium · 5.5

CVSS

5.5

EPSS

0.2%

Published

Aug 17, 2024

CISA due date

—

Cloudanix analysis

Schedule a fix SSVC: Track

A Linux kernel bug in handling storage device suspension together with data flushing can cause the entire system to freeze, requiring a reboot to recover.

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

What it actually does

Race condition deadlock between mddev_suspend and flush bio handling in Linux MD subsystem due to non-atomic active_io inc/dec around submit_flushes and md_submit_flush_data, causing threads to block indefinitely on flush_bio and active_io waits.

Why it matters to the business

System hangs or unresponsiveness on Linux servers using software RAID (md) during concurrent suspend and flush operations, leading to availability loss, potential forced reboots, and service disruption; affects widely deployed kernel with hundreds of downstream dependents.

How an attack unfolds

Local attacker triggers multiple concurrent flush bios while initiating mddev_suspend (e.g., via system power management or storage stack manipulation), exploiting the window where active_io is decremented early and md_submit_flush_data is not requeued on the same CPU, resulting in deadlock.

How to fix it

Upgrade Linux kernel to fixed version 6.1.103 or apply commit 32226070813140234b6c507084738e8e8385c5c6; rebuild and reboot into patched kernel; for dm-raid users ensure separate flush/data splitting remains in place.

How to confirm the fix worked

Verify running kernel version is at or above 6.1.103; reproduce suspend + flush workload and confirm no deadlock occurs; inspect md code for updated active_io handling and absence of the described race.

Typical attack path

  1. Obtain local access on Linux system with md RAID devices
  2. Issue concurrent flush I/O requests to md device
  3. Trigger mddev_suspend concurrently (e.g., via suspend/resume or storage management)
  4. Block on flush_bio and active_io waits leading to kernel deadlock

How to detect it

Review kernel logs for md flush-related stalls, watchdog timeouts, or hung task messages during suspend; correlate with active md devices and flush_bio operations; examine dmesg or journalctl for threads blocked on mddev_suspend.

What your security team should do

  • Apply kernel updates to 6.1.103 or later immediately on all affected systems
  • Prioritize patching production storage servers using md RAID
  • Test suspend/flush paths in staging environments before rollout
  • Monitor kernel changelogs for related MD fixes

The record

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: md: fix deadlock between mddev_suspend and flush bio Deadlock occurs when mddev is being suspended while some flush bio is in progress. It is a complex issue. T1. the first flush is at the ending stage, it clears 'mddev->flush_bio' and tries to submit data, but is blocked because mddev is suspended by T4. T2. the second flush sets 'mddev->flush_bio', and attempts to queue md_submit_flush_data(), which is already running (T1) and won't execute again if on the same CPU as T1. T3. the third flush inc active_io and tries to flush, but is blocked because 'mddev->flush_bio' is not NULL (set by T2). T4. mddev_suspend() is called and waits for active_io dec to 0 which is inc by T3. T1 T2 T3 T4 (flush 1) (flush 2) (third 3) (suspend) md_submit_flush_data mddev->flush_bio = NULL; . . md_flush_request . mddev->flush_bio = bio . queue submit_flushes . . . . md_handle_request . . active_io + 1 . . md_flush_request . . wait !mddev->flush_bio . . . . mddev_suspend . . wait !active_io . . . submit_flushes . queue_work md_submit_flush_data . //md_submit_flush_data is already running (T1) . md_handle_request wait resume The root issue is non-atomic inc/dec of active_io during flush process. active_io is dec before md_submit_flush_data is queued, and inc soon after md_submit_flush_data() run. md_flush_request active_io + 1 submit_flushes active_io - 1 md_submit_flush_data md_handle_request active_io + 1 make_request active_io - 1 If active_io is dec after md_handle_request() instead of within submit_flushes(), make_request() can be called directly intead of md_handle_request() in md_submit_flush_data(), and active_io will only inc and dec once in the whole flush process. Deadlock will be fixed. Additionally, the only difference between fixing the issue and before is that there is no return error handling of make_request(). But after previous patch cleaned md_write_start(), make_requst() only return error in raid5_make_request() by dm-raid, see commit 41425f96d7aa ("dm-raid456, md/raid456: fix a deadlock for dm-raid456 while io concurrent with reshape)". Since dm always splits data and flush operation into two separate io, io size of flush submitted by dm always is 0, make_request() will not be called in md_submit_flush_data(). To prevent future modifications from introducing issues, add WARN_ON to ensure make_request() no error is returned in this context.

Affected packages

Ecosystem Package Introduced Fixed
Debian:11 linux-6.1 0 6.1.119-1~deb11u1
Debian:12 linux 0 6.1.106-1
Debian:13 linux 0 6.10.3-1
Linux Kernel 0 6.1.103
Mageia:9 kernel 0 6.6.50-1.mga9
Mageia:9 kernel-linus 0 6.6.50-1.mga9
Mageia:9 kmod-virtualbox 0 7.0.20-53.mga9
Mageia:9 kmod-xtables-addons 0 3.24-61.mga9
SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.22.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.22.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6-RT_Update_2 0 1-150600.1.3.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6_Update_4 0 1-150600.13.3.3
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-64kb 0 6.4.0-150600.23.22.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.22.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-default-base 0 6.4.0-150600.23.22.1.150600.12.8.3
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-source 0 6.4.0-150600.23.22.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-zfcpdump 0 6.4.0-150600.23.22.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-docs 0 6.4.0-150600.23.22.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-obs-build 0 6.4.0-150600.23.22.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-source 0 6.4.0-150600.23.22.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-syms 0 6.4.0-150600.23.22.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Legacy 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.22.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 kernel-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.11.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 kernel-source-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.11.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 kernel-syms-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.11.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.22.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.8.3
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-rt_debug 0 6.4.0-150600.10.8.3
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-source-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.8.3
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-syms-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.8.1
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 5.15.0-1014.18~20.04.1
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 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-6.8 0 6.8.0-1018.19~22.04.1
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 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-6.8 0 6.8.0-1017.20~22.04.1
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 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-6.8 0 6.8.0-1017.19~22.04.1
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 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-6.8 0 6.8.0-48.48~22.04.1
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 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 0 6.8.0-48.48.3~22.04.1
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 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.8 0 6.8.0-1017.19~22.04.1
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 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 5.13.0-1008.10
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oracle-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oracle-6.8 0 6.8.0-1015.15~22.04.1
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 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-riscv-6.8 0 6.8.0-48.48.1~22.04.2
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 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 6.8.0-48.48
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-aws 0 6.8.0-1018.20
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-azure 0 6.8.0-1017.20
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 6.8.0-1017.19
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gke 0 6.8.0-1013.17
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gkeop 0 6.8.0-1002.4
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-ibm 0 6.8.0-1015.15
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-lowlatency 0 6.8.0-48.48.3
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-nvidia 0 6.8.0-1017.19
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-nvidia-lowlatency 0 6.8.0-1017.19.1
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-oem-6.11 0 6.11.0-1007.7
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-oem-6.8 0 6.8.0-1016.16
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 6.8.0-1015.16
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-raspi 0 6.8.0-1014.16
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 6.8.0-48.48.1
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

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