CVE-2024-50066 mm/mremap: fix move_normal_pmd/retract_page_tables race
A race condition in the Linux kernel memory management subsystem can lead to system instability or crashes when concurrent memory remapping and huge page collapsing occur.
- 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-2024-50066?
CVE-2024-50066 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 23 Oct 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:
mm/mremap: fix move_normal_pmd/retract_page_tables race
In mremap(), move_page_tables() looks at the type of the PMD entry and the specified address range to figure out by which method the next chunk of page table entries should be moved.
At that point, the mmap_lock is held in write mode, but no rmap locks are held yet. For PMD entries that point to page tables and are fully covered by the source address range, move_pgt_entry(NORMAL_PMD, ...) is called, which first takes rmap locks, then does move_normal_pmd(). move_normal_pmd() takes the necessary page table locks at source and destination, then moves an entire page table from the source to the destination.
The problem is: The rmap locks, which protect against concurrent page table removal by retract_page_tables() in the THP code, are only taken after the PMD entry has been read and it has been decided how to move it. So we can race as follows (with two processes that have mappings of the same tmpfs file that is stored on a tmpfs mount with huge=advise); note that process A accesses page tables through the MM while process B does it through the file rmap:
process A process B ========= ========= mremap mremap_to move_vma move_page_tables get_old_pmd alloc_new_pmd *** PREEMPT *** madvise(MADV_COLLAPSE) do_madvise madvise_walk_vmas madvise_vma_behavior madvise_collapse hpage_collapse_scan_file collapse_file retract_page_tables i_mmap_lock_read(mapping) pmdp_collapse_flush i_mmap_unlock_read(mapping) move_pgt_entry(NORMAL_PMD, ...) take_rmap_locks move_normal_pmd drop_rmap_locks
When this happens, move_normal_pmd() can end up creating bogus PMD entries in the line `pmd_populate(mm, new_pmd, pmd_pgtable(pmd))`. The effect depends on arch-specific and machine-specific details; on x86, you can end up with physical page 0 mapped as a page table, which is likely exploitable for user->kernel privilege escalation.
Fix the race by letting process B recheck that the PMD still points to a page table after the rmap locks have been taken. Otherwise, we bail and let the caller fall back to the PTE-level copying path, which will then bail immediately at the pmd_none() check.
Bug reachability: Reaching this bug requires that you can create shmem/file THP mappings - anonymous THP uses different code that doesn't zap stuff under rmap locks. File THP is gated on an experimental config flag (CONFIG_READ_ONLY_THP_FOR_FS), so on normal distro kernels you need shmem THP to hit this bug. As far as I know, getting shmem THP normally requires that you can mount your own tmpfs with the right mount flags, which would require creating your own user+mount namespace; though I don't know if some distros maybe enable shmem THP by default or something like that.
Bug impact: This issue can likely be used for user->kernel privilege escalation when it is reachable.
Weakness: CWE-362
Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-50066?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2024-50066?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2024-50066 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2024-50066 exists.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as AZL-52169, BELL-CVE-2024-50066, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-50066, GHSA-58m7-hfr6-rrx2, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-50066.