CVE-2024-41010

bpf: Fix too early release of tcx_entry

MEDIUM
5.5
CVSS Score
Published: July 17, 2024 at 06:10 AM UTC
Updated: August 5, 2026 at 12:04 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

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Severity
MEDIUM5.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.4%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Fix too early release of tcx_entry Pedro Pinto and later independently also Hyunwoo Kim and Wongi Lee reported an issue that the tcx_entry can be released too early leading to a use after free (UAF) when an active old-style ingress or clsact qdisc with a shared tc block is later replaced by another ingress or clsact instance. Essentially, the sequence to trigger the UAF (one example) can be as follows: 1. A network namespace is created 2. An ingress qdisc is created. This allocates a tcx_entry, and &tcx_entry->miniq is stored in the qdisc's miniqp->p_miniq. At the same time, a tcf block with index 1 is created. 3. chain0 is attached to the tcf block. chain0 must be connected to the block linked to the ingress qdisc to later reach the function tcf_chain0_head_change_cb_del() which triggers the UAF. 4. Create and graft a clsact qdisc. This causes the ingress qdisc created in step 1 to be removed, thus freeing the previously linked tcx_entry: rtnetlink_rcv_msg() => tc_modify_qdisc() => qdisc_create() => clsact_init() [a] => qdisc_graft() => qdisc_destroy() => __qdisc_destroy() => ingress_destroy() [b] => tcx_entry_free() => kfree_rcu() // tcx_entry freed 5. Finally, the network namespace is closed. This registers the cleanup_net worker, and during the process of releasing the remaining clsact qdisc, it accesses the tcx_entry that was already freed in step 4, causing the UAF to occur: cleanup_net() => ops_exit_list() => default_device_exit_batch() => unregister_netdevice_many() => unregister_netdevice_many_notify() => dev_shutdown() => qdisc_put() => clsact_destroy() [c] => tcf_block_put_ext() => tcf_chain0_head_change_cb_del() => tcf_chain_head_change_item() => clsact_chain_head_change() => mini_qdisc_pair_swap() // UAF There are also other variants, the gist is to add an ingress (or clsact) qdisc with a specific shared block, then to replace that qdisc, waiting for the tcx_entry kfree_rcu() to be executed and subsequently accessing the current active qdisc's miniq one way or another. The correct fix is to turn the miniq_active boolean into a counter. What can be observed, at step 2 above, the counter transitions from 0->1, at step [a] from 1->2 (in order for the miniq object to remain active during the replacement), then in [b] from 2->1 and finally [c] 1->0 with the eventual release. The reference counter in general ranges from [0,2] and it does not need to be atomic since all access to the counter is protected by the rtnl mutex. With this in place, there is no longer a UAF happening and the tcx_entry is freed at the correct time.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

6.6 ≤ v < 6.106.6 ≤ v < 6.6.416.6 ≤ v < 6.9.106.7 ≤ v < 6.9.106.6e420bed025071a623d2720a92bc2245c84757ecb
Vendor states this is fixed in 1cb6f0bae50441f4b4b32a28315853b279c7404e (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 230bb13650b0f186f540500fd5f5f7096a822a2a (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in f61ecf1bd5b562ebfd7d430ccb31619857e80857 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.10 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.6 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.6.41 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.9.10 (unaffected)

References (3)

Mailing ListPatch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1cb6f0bae50441f4b4b32a28315853b279c7404e
Mailing ListPatch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/230bb13650b0f186f540500fd5f5f7096a822a2a
Mailing ListPatch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f61ecf1bd5b562ebfd7d430ccb31619857e80857

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-416

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