CVE-2024-26868 nfs: fix panic when nfs4_ff_layout_prepare_ds() fails

High 7.5 Published Updated

A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel's NFS flexfile layout driver causes a system panic, leading to denial of service.

Exploited in the wild
Not known
Login needed
Not needed
Attackable
Over the internet
Victim action needed
Not needed
Fix
Available

What is CVE-2024-26868?

CVE-2024-26868 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 17 Apr 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

nfs: fix panic when nfs4_ff_layout_prepare_ds() fails

We've been seeing the following panic in production

BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000065 PGD 2f485f067 P4D 2f485f067 PUD 2cc5d8067 PMD 0 RIP: 0010:ff_layout_cancel_io+0x3a/0x90 [nfs_layout_flexfiles] Call Trace: <TASK> ? __die+0x78/0xc0 ? page_fault_oops+0x286/0x380 ? __rpc_execute+0x2c3/0x470 [sunrpc] ? rpc_new_task+0x42/0x1c0 [sunrpc] ? exc_page_fault+0x5d/0x110 ? asm_exc_page_fault+0x22/0x30 ? ff_layout_free_layoutreturn+0x110/0x110 [nfs_layout_flexfiles] ? ff_layout_cancel_io+0x3a/0x90 [nfs_layout_flexfiles] ? ff_layout_cancel_io+0x6f/0x90 [nfs_layout_flexfiles] pnfs_mark_matching_lsegs_return+0x1b0/0x360 [nfsv4] pnfs_error_mark_layout_for_return+0x9e/0x110 [nfsv4] ? ff_layout_send_layouterror+0x50/0x160 [nfs_layout_flexfiles] nfs4_ff_layout_prepare_ds+0x11f/0x290 [nfs_layout_flexfiles] ff_layout_pg_init_write+0xf0/0x1f0 [nfs_layout_flexfiles] __nfs_pageio_add_request+0x154/0x6c0 [nfs] nfs_pageio_add_request+0x26b/0x380 [nfs] nfs_do_writepage+0x111/0x1e0 [nfs] nfs_writepages_callback+0xf/0x30 [nfs] write_cache_pages+0x17f/0x380 ? nfs_pageio_init_write+0x50/0x50 [nfs] ? nfs_writepages+0x6d/0x210 [nfs] ? nfs_writepages+0x6d/0x210 [nfs] nfs_writepages+0x125/0x210 [nfs] do_writepages+0x67/0x220 ? generic_perform_write+0x14b/0x210 filemap_fdatawrite_wbc+0x5b/0x80 file_write_and_wait_range+0x6d/0xc0 nfs_file_fsync+0x81/0x170 [nfs] ? nfs_file_mmap+0x60/0x60 [nfs] __x64_sys_fsync+0x53/0x90 do_syscall_64+0x3d/0x90 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0

Inspecting the core with drgn I was able to pull this

>>> prog.crashed_thread().stack_trace()[0] #0 at 0xffffffffa079657a (ff_layout_cancel_io+0x3a/0x84) in ff_layout_cancel_io at fs/nfs/flexfilelayout/flexfilelayout.c:2021:27 >>> prog.crashed_thread().stack_trace()[0]['idx'] (u32)1 >>> prog.crashed_thread().stack_trace()[0]['flseg'].mirror_array[1].mirror_ds (struct nfs4_ff_layout_ds *)0xffffffffffffffed

This is clear from the stack trace, we call nfs4_ff_layout_prepare_ds() which could error out initializing the mirror_ds, and then we go to clean it all up and our check is only for if (!mirror->mirror_ds). This is inconsistent with the rest of the users of mirror_ds, which have

if (IS_ERR_OR_NULL(mirror_ds))

to keep from tripping over this exact scenario. Fix this up in ff_layout_cancel_io() to make sure we don't panic when we get an error. I also spot checked all the other instances of checking mirror_ds and we appear to be doing the correct checks everywhere, only unconditionally dereferencing mirror_ds when we know it would be valid.

Weakness: CWE-476

Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-26868?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2024-26868?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Is CVE-2024-26868 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-26868 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as BELL-CVE-2024-26868, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-26868, GHSA-w7cg-566v-rm5v, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-26868.

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