CVE-2024-57878 arm64: ptrace: fix partial SETREGSET for NT_ARM_FPMR
A local attacker can leak up to 64 bits of kernel stack memory by triggering a zero-length ptrace SETREGSET call on the FPMR register.
- 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-2024-57878?
CVE-2024-57878 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 11 Jan 2025. 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:
arm64: ptrace: fix partial SETREGSET for NT_ARM_FPMR
Currently fpmr_set() doesn't initialize the temporary 'fpmr' variable, and a SETREGSET call with a length of zero will leave this uninitialized. Consequently an arbitrary value will be written back to target->thread.uw.fpmr, potentially leaking up to 64 bits of memory from the kernel stack. The read is limited to a specific slot on the stack, and the issue does not provide a write mechanism.
Fix this by initializing the temporary value before copying the regset from userspace, as for other regsets (e.g. NT_PRSTATUS, NT_PRFPREG, NT_ARM_SYSTEM_CALL). In the case of a zero-length write, the existing contents of FPMR will be retained.
Before this patch:
| # ./fpmr-test | Attempting to write NT_ARM_FPMR::fpmr = 0x900d900d900d900d | SETREGSET(nt=0x40e, len=8) wrote 8 bytes | | Attempting to read NT_ARM_FPMR::fpmr | GETREGSET(nt=0x40e, len=8) read 8 bytes | Read NT_ARM_FPMR::fpmr = 0x900d900d900d900d | | Attempting to write NT_ARM_FPMR (zero length) | SETREGSET(nt=0x40e, len=0) wrote 0 bytes | | Attempting to read NT_ARM_FPMR::fpmr | GETREGSET(nt=0x40e, len=8) read 8 bytes | Read NT_ARM_FPMR::fpmr = 0xffff800083963d50
After this patch:
| # ./fpmr-test | Attempting to write NT_ARM_FPMR::fpmr = 0x900d900d900d900d | SETREGSET(nt=0x40e, len=8) wrote 8 bytes | | Attempting to read NT_ARM_FPMR::fpmr | GETREGSET(nt=0x40e, len=8) read 8 bytes | Read NT_ARM_FPMR::fpmr = 0x900d900d900d900d | | Attempting to write NT_ARM_FPMR (zero length) | SETREGSET(nt=0x40e, len=0) wrote 0 bytes | | Attempting to read NT_ARM_FPMR::fpmr | GETREGSET(nt=0x40e, len=8) read 8 bytes | Read NT_ARM_FPMR::fpmr = 0x900d900d900d900d
Weakness: CWE-908
Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-57878?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2024-57878?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2024-57878 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-57878 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2024-57878, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-57878, GHSA-w46c-ww47-4hf8, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-57878.