CVE-2024-35977 platform/chrome: cros_ec_uart: properly fix race condition
A race condition in the Linux kernel's Chrome OS EC UART driver can cause a NULL pointer dereference, leading to a system crash.
- 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-2024-35977?
CVE-2024-35977 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 20 May 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:
platform/chrome: cros_ec_uart: properly fix race condition
The cros_ec_uart_probe() function calls devm_serdev_device_open() before it calls serdev_device_set_client_ops(). This can trigger a NULL pointer dereference:
BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 ... Call Trace: <TASK> ... ? ttyport_receive_buf
A simplified version of crashing code is as follows:
static inline size_t serdev_controller_receive_buf(struct serdev_controller *ctrl, const u8 *data, size_t count) { struct serdev_device *serdev = ctrl->serdev;
if (!serdev || !serdev->ops->receive_buf) // CRASH! return 0;
return serdev->ops->receive_buf(serdev, data, count); }
It assumes that if SERPORT_ACTIVE is set and serdev exists, serdev->ops will also exist. This conflicts with the existing cros_ec_uart_probe() logic, as it first calls devm_serdev_device_open() (which sets SERPORT_ACTIVE), and only later sets serdev->ops via serdev_device_set_client_ops().
Commit 01f95d42b8f4 ("platform/chrome: cros_ec_uart: fix race condition") attempted to fix a similar race condition, but while doing so, made the window of error for this race condition to happen much wider.
Attempt to fix the race condition again, making sure we fully setup before calling devm_serdev_device_open().
Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-35977?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2024-35977?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2024-35977 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-35977 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2024-35977, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-35977, GHSA-r3pw-96wv-8pj5, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-35977.