Cloudanix VulnDB

CVE-2024-56613

Medium · 5.5

CVSS

5.5

EPSS

0.2%

Published

Dec 27, 2024

CISA due date

—

Cloudanix analysis

Schedule a fix SSVC: Track

A Linux kernel bug can slowly use up memory on powerful computers when many programs run at the same time, eventually slowing things down or forcing restarts.

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

Race condition in Linux kernel NUMA scheduler allows concurrent threads to overwrite vma->numab_state without atomic checks, causing repeated kmalloc allocations that are never freed and resulting in memory leaks.

Why it matters to the business

High-core-count Linux systems running multi-threaded workloads can experience gradual memory exhaustion, leading to degraded performance, increased swapping, or eventual system instability requiring reboots.

How an attack unfolds

An attacker executes a multi-threaded workload that triggers concurrent NUMA scanning on shared VMAs across multiple cores; the missing cmpxchg allows multiple threads to allocate numab_state simultaneously, leaking memory on each numa_scan_period until resources are depleted.

How to fix it

Upgrade the Linux kernel to a version containing commit 8f149bcc4d91ac92b32ff4949b291e6ed883dc42 which replaces the assignment with an atomic cmpxchg operation.

How to confirm the fix worked

Confirm the fix commit is present in the running kernel source tree; reproduce the original hackbench workload and verify no new unreferenced objects appear in /sys/kernel/debug/kmemleak.

Typical attack path

  1. Gain local execution capability on target Linux host
  2. Launch or induce multi-threaded process activity that shares VMAs and triggers task_numa_work
  3. Repeat workload across numa_scan_period boundaries to accumulate unreferenced allocations
  4. Monitor or wait for memory pressure to impact availability

How to detect it

Review kmemleak output for allocations originating from task_numa_work with backtraces showing __kmalloc_cache_noprof; correlate with unexplained memory growth on multi-threaded workloads.

What your security team should do

  • Prioritize kernel updates on high-core servers within the next maintenance window
  • Enable kmemleak or similar leak detectors on development and test systems to catch regressions
  • Restrict untrusted multi-threaded job submission until patches are applied

The record

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sched/numa: fix memory leak due to the overwritten vma->numab_state [Problem Description] When running the hackbench program of LTP, the following memory leak is reported by kmemleak. # /opt/ltp/testcases/bin/hackbench 20 thread 1000 Running with 20*40 (== 800) tasks. # dmesg | grep kmemleak ... kmemleak: 480 new suspected memory leaks (see /sys/kernel/debug/kmemleak) kmemleak: 665 new suspected memory leaks (see /sys/kernel/debug/kmemleak) # cat /sys/kernel/debug/kmemleak unreferenced object 0xffff888cd8ca2c40 (size 64): comm "hackbench", pid 17142, jiffies 4299780315 hex dump (first 32 bytes): ac 74 49 00 01 00 00 00 4c 84 49 00 01 00 00 00 .tI.....L.I..... 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ backtrace (crc bff18fd4): [<ffffffff81419a89>] __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x2f9/0x3f0 [<ffffffff8113f715>] task_numa_work+0x725/0xa00 [<ffffffff8110f878>] task_work_run+0x58/0x90 [<ffffffff81ddd9f8>] syscall_exit_to_user_mode+0x1c8/0x1e0 [<ffffffff81dd78d5>] do_syscall_64+0x85/0x150 [<ffffffff81e0012b>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e ... This issue can be consistently reproduced on three different servers: * a 448-core server * a 256-core server * a 192-core server [Root Cause] Since multiple threads are created by the hackbench program (along with the command argument 'thread'), a shared vma might be accessed by two or more cores simultaneously. When two or more cores observe that vma->numab_state is NULL at the same time, vma->numab_state will be overwritten. Although current code ensures that only one thread scans the VMAs in a single 'numa_scan_period', there might be a chance for another thread to enter in the next 'numa_scan_period' while we have not gotten till numab_state allocation [1]. Note that the command `/opt/ltp/testcases/bin/hackbench 50 process 1000` cannot the reproduce the issue. It is verified with 200+ test runs. [Solution] Use the cmpxchg atomic operation to ensure that only one thread executes the vma->numab_state assignment. [1] https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/1794be3c-358c-4cdc-a43d-a1f841d91ef7@amd.com/

Affected packages

Ecosystem Package Introduced Fixed
Debian:13 linux 0 6.12.5-1
Linux Kernel 6.4.0 6.6.66
Mageia:9 dwarves 0 1.29-1.mga9
Mageia:9 kernel 0 6.6.74-1.mga9
Mageia:9 kernel-linus 0 6.6.74-1.mga9
Mageia:9 kmod-virtualbox 0 7.0.24-64.mga9
Mageia:9 kmod-xtables-addons 0 3.24-70.mga9
SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.60.5
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.60.5
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6-RT_Update_13 0 1-150600.1.5.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6_Update_13 0 1-150600.13.6.4
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-64kb 0 6.4.0-150600.23.60.4
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.60.5
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-default-base 0 6.4.0-150600.23.60.5.150600.12.26.4
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-source 0 6.4.0-150600.23.60.4
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-zfcpdump 0 6.4.0-150600.23.60.4
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Confidential Computing Technical Preview 15 SP6 kernel-coco 0 6.4.0-15061.28.coco15sp6.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Confidential Computing Technical Preview 15 SP6 kernel-coco_debug 0 6.4.0-15061.28.coco15sp6.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Confidential Computing Technical Preview 15 SP6 kernel-source-coco 0 6.4.0-15061.28.coco15sp6.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Confidential Computing Technical Preview 15 SP6 kernel-syms-coco 0 6.4.0-15061.28.coco15sp6.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-docs 0 6.4.0-150600.23.60.3
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-obs-build 0 6.4.0-150600.23.60.3
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-source 0 6.4.0-150600.23.60.4
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-syms 0 6.4.0-150600.23.60.4
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Legacy 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.60.5
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 kernel-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.43.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 kernel-source-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.43.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 kernel-syms-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.43.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.60.5
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.44.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-rt_debug 0 6.4.0-150600.10.44.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-source-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.44.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-syms-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.44.1
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 No fix
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 No fix
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 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gkeop-5.15 0 No fix
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 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-6.8 0 6.8.0-1027.29~22.04.1
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 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-6.8 0 6.8.0-1027.32~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fde 0 No fix
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 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-6.8 0 6.8.0-1028.30~22.04.1
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 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-6.8 0 6.8.0-58.60~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-ibm 0 5.15.0-1002.2
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-ibm-6.8 0 6.8.0-1024.24~22.04.1
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 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 0 6.8.0-58.60.1~22.04.1
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 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.8 0 6.8.0-1026.29~22.04.1
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 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oracle-6.8 0 6.8.0-1024.25~22.04.1
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 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-riscv-6.8 0 6.8.0-58.60.1~22.04.1
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 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux 0 6.8.0-58.60
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-aws 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-aws 0 6.8.0-1027.29
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-azure 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-azure 0 6.8.0-1027.32
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-azure-6.11 0 6.11.0-1012.12~24.04.1
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-azure-fde 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-azure-nvidia 0 6.8.0-1014.15

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