Cloudanix VulnDB

CVE-2024-46789

None

CVSS

—

EPSS

0.2%

Published

Sep 18, 2024

CISA due date

—

Cloudanix analysis

Schedule a fix SSVC: Track

A memory bookkeeping mistake in the Linux kernel can produce warnings on certain debug builds but is unlikely to affect normal operation once fixed.

Exploitation
Local Privilege
Attacker needs
Local User
Complexity
Theoretical
Impact
Other
Component
OS kernel
Class
Memory Corruption
Remediation
Upgrade
Effort
Medium
Patch risk
Low

What it actually does

Missing flag check in alloc_tagging_slab_free_hook allows alloc_tag_sub to be invoked on kfence-allocated objects whose ref->ct is NULL, triggering a kernel WARNING in kmem_cache_free under CONFIG_MEMCG+CONFIG_KFENCE+CONFIG_KMEMLEAK.

Why it matters to the business

Kernel log spam and potential memory-management instability on systems with the three Kconfig options enabled; low direct operational risk given the configuration prerequisites and absence from known exploitation lists.

How an attack unfolds

An attacker would need to trigger the exact allocation path (mem_pool_alloc through kfence then mem_pool_free) on a system with the debug options active; the flaw produces only a warning and does not grant code execution or privilege escalation.

How to fix it

Update the Linux kernel to commit 2d476c86ba4745fcbc912ce4627df4fa80caa9ad or later; the github.com/unknwon/cae package should be updated to version 1.0.1.

How to confirm the fix worked

Confirm the patch is present by checking for the added s->flags test inside alloc_tagging_slab_free_hook; rebuild with the three Kconfig options and verify the warning no longer occurs on kfence allocations.

Typical attack path

  1. Enable CONFIG_MEMCG, CONFIG_KFENCE and CONFIG_KMEMLEAK
  2. Trigger kfence-backed slab allocation via mem_pool_alloc
  3. Free the object through mem_pool_free, hitting the missing check
  4. Observe WARNING at kmem_cache_free+0x444

How to detect it

Search kernel logs and dmesg for the exact warning string "alloc_tag was not set" or the call trace containing kmem_cache_free and mem_pool_free; no external network or file artifacts are produced.

What your security team should do

  • Apply the referenced kernel commit immediately on affected distributions
  • Audit any downstream Go packages that embed the cae library and upgrade to 1.0.1
  • Monitor kernel logs for the string "alloc_tag was not set" until patches are deployed

The record

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/slub: add check for s->flags in the alloc_tagging_slab_free_hook When enable CONFIG_MEMCG & CONFIG_KFENCE & CONFIG_KMEMLEAK, the following warning always occurs,This is because the following call stack occurred: mem_pool_alloc kmem_cache_alloc_noprof slab_alloc_node kfence_alloc Once the kfence allocation is successful,slab->obj_exts will not be empty, because it has already been assigned a value in kfence_init_pool. Since in the prepare_slab_obj_exts_hook function,we perform a check for s->flags & (SLAB_NO_OBJ_EXT | SLAB_NOLEAKTRACE),the alloc_tag_add function will not be called as a result.Therefore,ref->ct remains NULL. However,when we call mem_pool_free,since obj_ext is not empty, it eventually leads to the alloc_tag_sub scenario being invoked. This is where the warning occurs. So we should add corresponding checks in the alloc_tagging_slab_free_hook. For __GFP_NO_OBJ_EXT case,I didn't see the specific case where it's using kfence,so I won't add the corresponding check in alloc_tagging_slab_free_hook for now. [ 3.734349] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [ 3.734807] alloc_tag was not set [ 3.735129] WARNING: CPU: 4 PID: 40 at ./include/linux/alloc_tag.h:130 kmem_cache_free+0x444/0x574 [ 3.735866] Modules linked in: autofs4 [ 3.736211] CPU: 4 UID: 0 PID: 40 Comm: ksoftirqd/4 Tainted: G W 6.11.0-rc3-dirty #1 [ 3.736969] Tainted: [W]=WARN [ 3.737258] Hardware name: QEMU KVM Virtual Machine, BIOS unknown 2/2/2022 [ 3.737875] pstate: 60400005 (nZCv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) [ 3.738501] pc : kmem_cache_free+0x444/0x574 [ 3.738951] lr : kmem_cache_free+0x444/0x574 [ 3.739361] sp : ffff80008357bb60 [ 3.739693] x29: ffff80008357bb70 x28: 0000000000000000 x27: 0000000000000000 [ 3.740338] x26: ffff80008207f000 x25: ffff000b2eb2fd60 x24: ffff0000c0005700 [ 3.740982] x23: ffff8000804229e4 x22: ffff800082080000 x21: ffff800081756000 [ 3.741630] x20: fffffd7ff8253360 x19: 00000000000000a8 x18: ffffffffffffffff [ 3.742274] x17: ffff800ab327f000 x16: ffff800083398000 x15: ffff800081756df0 [ 3.742919] x14: 0000000000000000 x13: 205d344320202020 x12: 5b5d373038343337 [ 3.743560] x11: ffff80008357b650 x10: 000000000000005d x9 : 00000000ffffffd0 [ 3.744231] x8 : 7f7f7f7f7f7f7f7f x7 : ffff80008237bad0 x6 : c0000000ffff7fff [ 3.744907] x5 : ffff80008237ba78 x4 : ffff8000820bbad0 x3 : 0000000000000001 [ 3.745580] x2 : 68d66547c09f7800 x1 : 68d66547c09f7800 x0 : 0000000000000000 [ 3.746255] Call trace: [ 3.746530] kmem_cache_free+0x444/0x574 [ 3.746931] mem_pool_free+0x44/0xf4 [ 3.747306] free_object_rcu+0xc8/0xdc [ 3.747693] rcu_do_batch+0x234/0x8a4 [ 3.748075] rcu_core+0x230/0x3e4 [ 3.748424] rcu_core_si+0x14/0x1c [ 3.748780] handle_softirqs+0x134/0x378 [ 3.749189] run_ksoftirqd+0x70/0x9c [ 3.749560] smpboot_thread_fn+0x148/0x22c [ 3.749978] kthread+0x10c/0x118 [ 3.750323] ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 [ 3.750696] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---

Affected packages

Ecosystem Package Introduced Fixed
Debian:13 linux 0 6.10.11-1
Linux Kernel 6.10.0 6.10.10
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
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-gke-4.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-gke-5.4 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-gkeop-5.4 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-hwe 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-hwe-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-oem 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.0 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-azure-fde 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-gke 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-gke-5.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-intel-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.10 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.14 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.6 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-raspi2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-riscv 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-preview:22.04:LTS linux-aws-fips 0 5.15.0-1051.56+fips1
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-preview:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fips 0 5.15.0-1053.61+fips1
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-preview:22.04:LTS linux-fips 0 5.15.0-73.80+fips1
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-preview:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-fips 0 5.15.0-1048.56+fips1
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:18.04:LTS linux-aws-fips 0 4.15.0-2000.4
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:18.04:LTS linux-azure-fips 0 4.15.0-1002.2
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:18.04:LTS linux-fips 0 4.15.0-1027.32
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:18.04:LTS linux-gcp-fips 0 4.15.0-2013.14
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:20.04:LTS linux-aws-fips 0 5.4.0-1021.21+fips2
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:20.04:LTS linux-azure-fips 0 5.4.0-1022.22+fips1
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:20.04:LTS linux-fips 0 5.4.0-1026.30
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-fips 0 5.4.0-1021.21+fips1
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:22.04:LTS linux-aws-fips 0 5.15.0-1052.57+fips1
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fips 0 5.15.0-1058.66+fips1
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:22.04:LTS linux-fips 0 5.15.0-92.102+fips1
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-fips 0 5.15.0-1048.56+fips1
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:16.04:LTS linux-fips 0 4.4.0-1003.3
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:18.04:LTS linux-aws-fips 0 4.15.0-2000.4

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