Cloudanix VulnDB

CVE-2024-43897

None

CVSS

—

EPSS

0.2%

Published

Aug 26, 2024

CISA due date

—

Cloudanix analysis

Schedule a fix SSVC: Track

A flaw in the Linux kernel's handling of certain network packets could let specially crafted traffic trigger warnings or crashes, disrupting systems that move data over virtual or tunneled connections.

Exploitation
Remote Unauthenticated
Attacker needs
None
Complexity
Moderate
Impact
Denial Of Service
Component
OS kernel
Class
Improper Input Validation
Remediation
Upgrade
Effort
Medium
Patch risk
Low

What it actually does

The flaw permits malformed GSO packets carrying invalid csum_start and csum_offset values in virtio_net_hdr to pass existing validation, causing skb_checksum_help to trigger a WARN_ON_ONCE when the checksum offset falls outside the linear skb headroom during later segmentation and transmission in the network stack.

Why it matters to the business

Linux systems that process untrusted network traffic through virtualization, tunneling, or packet sockets may experience kernel warnings, potential crashes, or denial of service, leading to service disruption and unplanned reboots; low urgency given absence from KEV and stable low EPSS.

How an attack unfolds

An attacker sends a crafted TSO packet with manipulated virtio_net_hdr checksum fields through packet sockets, GRE tunnels, or virtual interfaces; the kernel accepts the packet, later segmentation routines produce segments that violate linear-data assumptions, and skb_checksum_help hits the warning path during ip_output or dev_hard_start_xmit.

How to fix it

Upgrade Linux kernel to a fixed release containing commit 413e785a89f8 (or equivalent) such as 5.15.167 or later stable trees; apply the stricter csum_start and csum_offset validation for TSO and USO packets; test GSO offload paths after upgrade.

How to confirm the fix worked

Confirm kernel version contains the fix commit; run existing kselftest GSO cases and syzkaller reproducers; verify absence of skb_checksum_help warnings under load with crafted virtio_net_hdr packets.

Typical attack path

  1. Craft malicious GSO packet with out-of-range csum_start/csum_offset in virtio_net_hdr
  2. Inject via packet(AF_PACKET) socket, ip_gre, or virtio net device
  3. Kernel accepts packet and performs GSO segmentation
  4. skb_checksum_help invoked on a segment whose offset exceeds headlen
  5. WARN_ON_ONCE fires, potentially leading to crash or dropped traffic

How to detect it

Search kernel logs and dmesg for WARN_ON_ONCE messages originating from skb_checksum_help in net/core/dev.c combined with GSO-related stack traces involving ip_do_fragment, ip_tunnel_xmit, or dev_hard_start_xmit; inspect packet capture for TSO packets with anomalous virtio_net_hdr checksum fields.

What your security team should do

  • Prioritize kernel upgrades on systems exposing packet sockets, GRE/IP tunnels, or virtio networking
  • Monitor for skb_checksum_help warnings in dmesg and kernel logs
  • Apply the fix across all affected stable branches before the next scheduled maintenance window
  • Re-test network performance and offload features post-upgrade

The record

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: drop bad gso csum_start and offset in virtio_net_hdr Tighten csum_start and csum_offset checks in virtio_net_hdr_to_skb for GSO packets. The function already checks that a checksum requested with VIRTIO_NET_HDR_F_NEEDS_CSUM is in skb linear. But for GSO packets this might not hold for segs after segmentation. Syzkaller demonstrated to reach this warning in skb_checksum_help offset = skb_checksum_start_offset(skb); ret = -EINVAL; if (WARN_ON_ONCE(offset >= skb_headlen(skb))) By injecting a TSO packet: WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 3539 at net/core/dev.c:3284 skb_checksum_help+0x3d0/0x5b0 ip_do_fragment+0x209/0x1b20 net/ipv4/ip_output.c:774 ip_finish_output_gso net/ipv4/ip_output.c:279 [inline] __ip_finish_output+0x2bd/0x4b0 net/ipv4/ip_output.c:301 iptunnel_xmit+0x50c/0x930 net/ipv4/ip_tunnel_core.c:82 ip_tunnel_xmit+0x2296/0x2c70 net/ipv4/ip_tunnel.c:813 __gre_xmit net/ipv4/ip_gre.c:469 [inline] ipgre_xmit+0x759/0xa60 net/ipv4/ip_gre.c:661 __netdev_start_xmit include/linux/netdevice.h:4850 [inline] netdev_start_xmit include/linux/netdevice.h:4864 [inline] xmit_one net/core/dev.c:3595 [inline] dev_hard_start_xmit+0x261/0x8c0 net/core/dev.c:3611 __dev_queue_xmit+0x1b97/0x3c90 net/core/dev.c:4261 packet_snd net/packet/af_packet.c:3073 [inline] The geometry of the bad input packet at tcp_gso_segment: [ 52.003050][ T8403] skb len=12202 headroom=244 headlen=12093 tailroom=0 [ 52.003050][ T8403] mac=(168,24) mac_len=24 net=(192,52) trans=244 [ 52.003050][ T8403] shinfo(txflags=0 nr_frags=1 gso(size=1552 type=3 segs=0)) [ 52.003050][ T8403] csum(0x60000c7 start=199 offset=1536 ip_summed=3 complete_sw=0 valid=0 level=0) Mitigate with stricter input validation. csum_offset: for GSO packets, deduce the correct value from gso_type. This is already done for USO. Extend it to TSO. Let UFO be: udp[46]_ufo_fragment ignores these fields and always computes the checksum in software. csum_start: finding the real offset requires parsing to the transport header. Do not add a parser, use existing segmentation parsing. Thanks to SKB_GSO_DODGY, that also catches bad packets that are hw offloaded. Again test both TSO and USO. Do not test UFO for the above reason, and do not test UDP tunnel offload. GSO packet are almost always CHECKSUM_PARTIAL. USO packets may be CHECKSUM_NONE since commit 10154dbded6d6 ("udp: Allow GSO transmit from devices with no checksum offload"), but then still these fields are initialized correctly in udp4_hwcsum/udp6_hwcsum_outgoing. So no need to test for ip_summed == CHECKSUM_PARTIAL first. This revises an existing fix mentioned in the Fixes tag, which broke small packets with GSO offload, as detected by kselftests.

Affected packages

Ecosystem Package Introduced Fixed
Debian:11 linux-6.1 0 6.1.119-1~deb11u1
Debian:12 linux 0 6.1.106-3
Debian:13 linux 0 6.10.6-1
Linux Kernel 5.15.165 5.15.167
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 SP5 kernel-default 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.22.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP5 kernel-default 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP5 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP5-RT_Update_23 0 1-150500.11.3.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP5 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP5_Update_21 0 1-150500.11.5.1
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 Micro 5.5 kernel-default 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 kernel-default-base 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1.150500.6.39.4
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 kernel-rt 0 5.14.21-150500.13.79.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 kernel-source-rt 0 5.14.21-150500.13.79.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5 kernel-64kb 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5 kernel-default 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5 kernel-default-base 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1.150500.6.39.4
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5 kernel-source 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5 kernel-zfcpdump 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1
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 SP5 kernel-docs 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP5 kernel-obs-build 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP5 kernel-source 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP5 kernel-syms 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1
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 SP5 kernel-default 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1
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 SP5 kernel-azure 0 5.14.21-150500.33.75.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP5 kernel-source-azure 0 5.14.21-150500.33.75.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP5 kernel-syms-azure 0 5.14.21-150500.33.75.1
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 SP5 kernel-rt 0 5.14.21-150500.13.79.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP5 kernel-rt_debug 0 5.14.21-150500.13.79.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP5 kernel-source-rt 0 5.14.21-150500.13.79.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP5 kernel-syms-rt 0 5.14.21-150500.13.79.1
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:16.04:LTS linux-hwe-edge 0 No fix
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-azure 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure-5.3 0 No fix
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-5.3 0 No fix
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-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oem 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.0 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.3 0 No fix
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-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-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-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 6.8.0-38.38~22.04.1
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 6.8.0-38.38.1~22.04.2
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 6.8.0-1008.8~22.04.1
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-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 6.8.0-38.38.1~22.04.1
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 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 6.5.0-9.9
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-aws 0 6.5.0-1008.8
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-azure 0 6.5.0-1007.7
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 6.5.0-1007.7
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gke 0 6.8.0-1003.5
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gkeop 0 6.8.0-1001.3
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-ibm 0 6.5.0-1009.9
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-lowlatency 0 6.5.0-9.9.1
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-nvidia 0 6.8.0-1007.7
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-nvidia-lowlatency 0 6.8.0-1009.9.1
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-oem-6.8 0 6.8.0-1003.3
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 6.5.0-1010.10
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-raspi 0 6.5.0-1005.7
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-raspi-realtime 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-raspi-realtime 0 6.7.0-2001.1
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-realtime 0 6.8.0-1008.19
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-riscv 0 6.5.0-9.9.1
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
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-azure 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-azure-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-azure-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.3 0 No fix

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