CVE-2024-26802 stmmac: Clear variable when destroying workqueue
A null pointer dereference in the stmmac network driver can cause a kernel panic during adapter reset, leading to denial of service.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2024-26802?
CVE-2024-26802 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 4 Apr 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
stmmac: Clear variable when destroying workqueue
Currently when suspending driver and stopping workqueue it is checked whether workqueue is not NULL and if so, it is destroyed. Function destroy_workqueue() does drain queue and does clear variable, but it does not set workqueue variable to NULL. This can cause kernel/module panic if code attempts to clear workqueue that was not initialized.
This scenario is possible when resuming suspended driver in stmmac_resume(), because there is no handling for failed stmmac_hw_setup(), which can fail and return if DMA engine has failed to initialize, and workqueue is initialized after DMA engine. Should DMA engine fail to initialize, resume will proceed normally, but interface won't work and TX queue will eventually timeout, causing 'Reset adapter' error. This then does destroy workqueue during reset process. And since workqueue is initialized after DMA engine and can be skipped, it will cause kernel/module panic.
To secure against this possible crash, set workqueue variable to NULL when destroying workqueue.
Log/backtrace from crash goes as follows: [88.031977]------------[ cut here ]------------ [88.031985]NETDEV WATCHDOG: eth0 (sxgmac): transmit queue 1 timed out [88.032017]WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 0 at net/sched/sch_generic.c:477 dev_watchdog+0x390/0x398 <Skipping backtrace for watchdog timeout> [88.032251]---[ end trace e70de432e4d5c2c0 ]--- [88.032282]sxgmac 16d88000.ethernet eth0: Reset adapter. [88.036359]------------[ cut here ]------------ [88.036519]Call trace: [88.036523] flush_workqueue+0x3e4/0x430 [88.036528] drain_workqueue+0xc4/0x160 [88.036533] destroy_workqueue+0x40/0x270 [88.036537] stmmac_fpe_stop_wq+0x4c/0x70 [88.036541] stmmac_release+0x278/0x280 [88.036546] __dev_close_many+0xcc/0x158 [88.036551] dev_close_many+0xbc/0x190 [88.036555] dev_close.part.0+0x70/0xc0 [88.036560] dev_close+0x24/0x30 [88.036564] stmmac_service_task+0x110/0x140 [88.036569] process_one_work+0x1d8/0x4a0 [88.036573] worker_thread+0x54/0x408 [88.036578] kthread+0x164/0x170 [88.036583] ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 [88.036588]---[ end trace e70de432e4d5c2c1 ]--- [88.036597]Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000004
Weakness: CWE-476
Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-26802?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2024-26802?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2024-26802 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-26802 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2024-26802, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-26802, GHSA-r7p6-cff4-g6q4, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-26802.