CVE-2024-38538 net: bridge: xmit: make sure we have at least eth header len bytes

High 7.3 Published Updated

An attacker can trigger an uninitialized value error in the Linux kernel bridge transmit path by sending short packets, potentially leaking memory contents.

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-2024-38538?

CVE-2024-38538 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 Jun 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:

net: bridge: xmit: make sure we have at least eth header len bytes

syzbot triggered an uninit value[1] error in bridge device's xmit path by sending a short (less than ETH_HLEN bytes) skb. To fix it check if we can actually pull that amount instead of assuming.

Tested with dropwatch: drop at: br_dev_xmit+0xb93/0x12d0 [bridge] (0xffffffffc06739b3) origin: software timestamp: Mon May 13 11:31:53 2024 778214037 nsec protocol: 0x88a8 length: 2 original length: 2 drop reason: PKT_TOO_SMALL

[1] BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in br_dev_xmit+0x61d/0x1cb0 net/bridge/br_device.c:65 br_dev_xmit+0x61d/0x1cb0 net/bridge/br_device.c:65 __netdev_start_xmit include/linux/netdevice.h:4903 [inline] netdev_start_xmit include/linux/netdevice.h:4917 [inline] xmit_one net/core/dev.c:3531 [inline] dev_hard_start_xmit+0x247/0xa20 net/core/dev.c:3547 __dev_queue_xmit+0x34db/0x5350 net/core/dev.c:4341 dev_queue_xmit include/linux/netdevice.h:3091 [inline] __bpf_tx_skb net/core/filter.c:2136 [inline] __bpf_redirect_common net/core/filter.c:2180 [inline] __bpf_redirect+0x14a6/0x1620 net/core/filter.c:2187 ____bpf_clone_redirect net/core/filter.c:2460 [inline] bpf_clone_redirect+0x328/0x470 net/core/filter.c:2432 ___bpf_prog_run+0x13fe/0xe0f0 kernel/bpf/core.c:1997 __bpf_prog_run512+0xb5/0xe0 kernel/bpf/core.c:2238 bpf_dispatcher_nop_func include/linux/bpf.h:1234 [inline] __bpf_prog_run include/linux/filter.h:657 [inline] bpf_prog_run include/linux/filter.h:664 [inline] bpf_test_run+0x499/0xc30 net/bpf/test_run.c:425 bpf_prog_test_run_skb+0x14ea/0x1f20 net/bpf/test_run.c:1058 bpf_prog_test_run+0x6b7/0xad0 kernel/bpf/syscall.c:4269 __sys_bpf+0x6aa/0xd90 kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5678 __do_sys_bpf kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5767 [inline] __se_sys_bpf kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5765 [inline] __x64_sys_bpf+0xa0/0xe0 kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5765 x64_sys_call+0x96b/0x3b50 arch/x86/include/generated/asm/syscalls_64.h:322 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xcf/0x1e0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f

Weakness: CWE-908

Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-38538?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2024-38538?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Is CVE-2024-38538 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-38538 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as AZL-48297, BELL-CVE-2024-38538, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-38538, GHSA-46q5-wp2g-gv63, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-38538.

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