CVE-2024-50182

secretmem: disable memfd_secret() if arch cannot set direct map

MEDIUM
5.5
CVSS Score
Published: November 8, 2024 at 05:38 AM UTC
Updated: August 5, 2026 at 12:05 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

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Severity
MEDIUM5.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.2%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: secretmem: disable memfd_secret() if arch cannot set direct map Return -ENOSYS from memfd_secret() syscall if !can_set_direct_map(). This is the case for example on some arm64 configurations, where marking 4k PTEs in the direct map not present can only be done if the direct map is set up at 4k granularity in the first place (as ARM's break-before-make semantics do not easily allow breaking apart large/gigantic pages). More precisely, on arm64 systems with !can_set_direct_map(), set_direct_map_invalid_noflush() is a no-op, however it returns success (0) instead of an error. This means that memfd_secret will seemingly "work" (e.g. syscall succeeds, you can mmap the fd and fault in pages), but it does not actually achieve its goal of removing its memory from the direct map. Note that with this patch, memfd_secret() will start erroring on systems where can_set_direct_map() returns false (arm64 with CONFIG_RODATA_FULL_DEFAULT_ENABLED=n, CONFIG_DEBUG_PAGEALLOC=n and CONFIG_KFENCE=n), but that still seems better than the current silent failure. Since CONFIG_RODATA_FULL_DEFAULT_ENABLED defaults to 'y', most arm64 systems actually have a working memfd_secret() and aren't be affected. From going through the iterations of the original memfd_secret patch series, it seems that disabling the syscall in these scenarios was the intended behavior [1] (preferred over having set_direct_map_invalid_noflush return an error as that would result in SIGBUSes at page-fault time), however the check for it got dropped between v16 [2] and v17 [3], when secretmem moved away from CMA allocations. [1]: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/[email protected]/ [2]: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/[email protected]/#t [3]: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/[email protected]/

Affected

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

5.14 ≤ v < 5.15.1695.14 ≤ v < 6.1.1135.14 ≤ v < 6.11.45.14 ≤ v < 6.125.14 ≤ v < 6.6.575.16 ≤ v < 6.1.1136.2 ≤ v < 6.6.576.7 ≤ v < 6.11.41507f51255c9ff07d75909a84e7c0d7f3c4b2f496.12 rc16.12 rc2
Vendor states this is fixed in 532b53cebe58f34ce1c0f34d866f5c0e335c53c6 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5ea0b7af38754d2b45ead9257bca47e84662e926 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 757786abe4547eb3d9d0e8350a63bdb0f9824af2 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7caf966390e6e4ebf42775df54e7ee1f280ce677 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in d0ae6ffa1aeb297aef89f49cfb894a83c329ebad (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.14 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.15.169 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.1.113 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.11.4 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.12 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.6.57 (unaffected)

References (6)

Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/532b53cebe58f34ce1c0f34d866f5c0e335c53c6
Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5ea0b7af38754d2b45ead9257bca47e84662e926
Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/757786abe4547eb3d9d0e8350a63bdb0f9824af2
Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7caf966390e6e4ebf42775df54e7ee1f280ce677
Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d0ae6ffa1aeb297aef89f49cfb894a83c329ebad
Source: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/01/msg00001.html

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatablePartial impact

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

CVSS

5.5MEDIUMCISA-ADP
Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
NVD-CWE-noinfo

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