Cloudanix VulnDB

CVE-2024-58098

None

CVSS

—

EPSS

0.2%

Published

May 5, 2025

CISA due date

—

Cloudanix analysis

Schedule a fix SSVC: Track

A bug in the Linux kernel's packet-filtering verification logic could let specially written programs bypass safety checks and damage or take over the system.

Exploitation
Local Privilege
Attacker needs
High Privilege
Complexity
High
Impact
Full Compromise
Component
OS kernel
Class
Improper Input Validation
Remediation
Upgrade
Effort
Medium
Patch risk
Low

What it actually does

The BPF verifier fails to propagate the changes_pkt_data flag across global subprograms, allowing packet pointers to remain valid after calls to helpers such as bpf_skb_pull_data that invalidate packet data.

Why it matters to the business

Systems running untrusted or attacker-supplied eBPF programs may experience kernel memory corruption, crashes, or privilege escalation; high ecosystem prevalence in Android and Linux distributions increases exposure for network and security appliances.

How an attack unfolds

An attacker authors a BPF program containing a global function that invokes a packet-data-changing helper, loads it via bpf(), and then dereferences a stale packet pointer in the caller context to read or write kernel memory beyond the intended bounds.

How to fix it

Upgrade the Linux kernel to a version containing commit 79751e9227a5910c0e5a2c7186877d91821d957d; rebuild and redeploy any custom BPF programs after the update; apply vendor patches for affected Android SoC versions dated 2022-07-05 or later.

How to confirm the fix worked

Confirm the running kernel contains commit 79751e9227a5910c0e5a2c7186877d91821d957d via uname or kernel build info; recompile test programs that previously bypassed verification and ensure they are now rejected; run bpftool prog load with the previously unsafe example to verify rejection.

Typical attack path

  1. Craft a BPF program with a global subprogram calling bpf_skb_pull_data or similar helper
  2. Load the program with bpf() without triggering verifier rejection
  3. Trigger execution path that reaches the stale pointer dereference after the helper call
  4. Achieve out-of-bounds read/write or controlled kernel memory corruption

How to detect it

Search kernel logs for bpf verifier messages referencing changes_pkt_data or global function processing; inspect loaded BPF programs with bpftool for global subprograms containing calls to helpers listed in bpf_helper_changes_pkt_data; review audit logs for bpf() syscalls loading programs with tc or xdp sections that were accepted before the fix date.

What your security team should do

  • Prioritize kernel upgrades on all systems exposing BPF to untrusted code within 30 days
  • Audit existing BPF programs for global functions that call packet-modifying helpers
  • Enable BPF verifier logging and monitor for previously accepted unsafe programs
  • Restrict unprivileged BPF loading via sysctl kernel.unprivileged_bpf_disabled=1 where feasible

The record

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: track changes_pkt_data property for global functions When processing calls to certain helpers, verifier invalidates all packet pointers in a current state. For example, consider the following program: __attribute__((__noinline__)) long skb_pull_data(struct __sk_buff *sk, __u32 len) { return bpf_skb_pull_data(sk, len); } SEC("tc") int test_invalidate_checks(struct __sk_buff *sk) { int *p = (void *)(long)sk->data; if ((void *)(p + 1) > (void *)(long)sk->data_end) return TCX_DROP; skb_pull_data(sk, 0); *p = 42; return TCX_PASS; } After a call to bpf_skb_pull_data() the pointer 'p' can't be used safely. See function filter.c:bpf_helper_changes_pkt_data() for a list of such helpers. At the moment verifier invalidates packet pointers when processing helper function calls, and does not traverse global sub-programs when processing calls to global sub-programs. This means that calls to helpers done from global sub-programs do not invalidate pointers in the caller state. E.g. the program above is unsafe, but is not rejected by verifier. This commit fixes the omission by computing field bpf_subprog_info->changes_pkt_data for each sub-program before main verification pass. changes_pkt_data should be set if: - subprogram calls helper for which bpf_helper_changes_pkt_data returns true; - subprogram calls a global function, for which bpf_subprog_info->changes_pkt_data should be set. The verifier.c:check_cfg() pass is modified to compute this information. The commit relies on depth first instruction traversal done by check_cfg() and absence of recursive function calls: - check_cfg() would eventually visit every call to subprogram S in a state when S is fully explored; - when S is fully explored: - every direct helper call within S is explored (and thus changes_pkt_data is set if needed); - every call to subprogram S1 called by S was visited with S1 fully explored (and thus S inherits changes_pkt_data from S1). The downside of such approach is that dead code elimination is not taken into account: if a helper call inside global function is dead because of current configuration, verifier would conservatively assume that the call occurs for the purpose of the changes_pkt_data computation.

Affected packages

Ecosystem Package Introduced Fixed
Debian:11 linux 0 No fix
Debian:12 linux 0 No fix
Debian:13 linux 0 6.12.25-1
Linux Kernel 5.6.0 6.6.90
SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6-RT_Update_11 0 1-150600.1.3.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6_Update_12 0 1-150600.13.3.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-64kb 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-default-base 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1.150600.12.24.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-source 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-zfcpdump 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
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 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-obs-build 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-source 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-syms 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Legacy 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 kernel-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.40.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 kernel-source-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.40.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 kernel-syms-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.40.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.39.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-rt_debug 0 6.4.0-150600.10.39.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-source-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.39.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-syms-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.39.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 dtb-aarch64 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-64kb 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.40.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-debug 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-default-base 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1.150600.12.24.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-docs 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-kvmsmall 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-obs-build 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-obs-qa 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.39.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-rt_debug 0 6.4.0-150600.10.39.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-source 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-source-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.40.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-source-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.39.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-syms 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-syms-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.40.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-syms-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.39.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-zfcpdump 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1

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