CVE-2024-35971 net: ks8851: Handle softirqs at the end of IRQ thread to fix hang

What is CVE-2024-35971?

CVE-2024-35971 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 20 May 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:

net: ks8851: Handle softirqs at the end of IRQ thread to fix hang

The ks8851_irq() thread may call ks8851_rx_pkts() in case there are any packets in the MAC FIFO, which calls netif_rx(). This netif_rx() implementation is guarded by local_bh_disable() and local_bh_enable(). The local_bh_enable() may call do_softirq() to run softirqs in case any are pending. One of the softirqs is net_rx_action, which ultimately reaches the driver .start_xmit callback. If that happens, the system hangs. The entire call chain is below:

ks8851_start_xmit_par from netdev_start_xmit netdev_start_xmit from dev_hard_start_xmit dev_hard_start_xmit from sch_direct_xmit sch_direct_xmit from __dev_queue_xmit __dev_queue_xmit from __neigh_update __neigh_update from neigh_update neigh_update from arp_process.constprop.0 arp_process.constprop.0 from __netif_receive_skb_one_core __netif_receive_skb_one_core from process_backlog process_backlog from __napi_poll.constprop.0 __napi_poll.constprop.0 from net_rx_action net_rx_action from __do_softirq __do_softirq from call_with_stack call_with_stack from do_softirq do_softirq from __local_bh_enable_ip __local_bh_enable_ip from netif_rx netif_rx from ks8851_irq ks8851_irq from irq_thread_fn irq_thread_fn from irq_thread irq_thread from kthread kthread from ret_from_fork

The hang happens because ks8851_irq() first locks a spinlock in ks8851_par.c ks8851_lock_par() spin_lock_irqsave(&ksp->lock, ...) and with that spinlock locked, calls netif_rx(). Once the execution reaches ks8851_start_xmit_par(), it calls ks8851_lock_par() again which attempts to claim the already locked spinlock again, and the hang happens.

Move the do_softirq() call outside of the spinlock protected section of ks8851_irq() by disabling BHs around the entire spinlock protected section of ks8851_irq() handler. Place local_bh_enable() outside of the spinlock protected section, so that it can trigger do_softirq() without the ks8851_par.c ks8851_lock_par() spinlock being held, and safely call ks8851_start_xmit_par() without attempting to lock the already locked spinlock.

Since ks8851_irq() is protected by local_bh_disable()/local_bh_enable() now, replace netif_rx() with __netif_rx() which is not duplicating the local_bh_disable()/local_bh_enable() calls.

Weakness: CWE-667

Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-35971?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2024-35971?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Is CVE-2024-35971 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-35971 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

• CVE-2026-53266 Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2013-6282 Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2022-0185 Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2013-2094 Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2026-53362 Linux Kernel Unspecified Exploited High 7.8

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as AZL-67761, BELL-CVE-2024-35971, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-35971, GHSA-59hf-6v72-vm3m, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2024-35971, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2024-35971 and 1 more.