Highly exploitable, CVE-2024-36972 poses a critical security risk that could lead to severe breaches.
Status: Analyzed
Last updated: 🕡 01 Apr 2025, 18:36 UTC
Originally published on: 🕒 10 Jun 2024, 15:15 UTC
Time between publication and last update: 295 days
CVSS Release: version 3
134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
Secondary
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVE-2024-36972: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: af_unix: Update unix_sk(sk)->oob_skb under sk_receive_queue lock. Billy Jheng Bing-Jhong reported a race between __unix_gc() and queue_oob(). __unix_gc() tries to garbage-collect close()d inflight sockets, and then if the socket has MSG_OOB in unix_sk(sk)->oob_skb, GC will drop the reference and set NULL to it locklessly. However, the peer socket still can send MSG_OOB message and queue_oob() can update unix_sk(sk)->oob_skb concurrently, leading NULL pointer dereference. [0] To fix the issue, let's update unix_sk(sk)->oob_skb under the sk_receive_queue's lock and take it everywhere we touch oob_skb. Note that we defer kfree_skb() in manage_oob() to silence lockdep false-positive (See [1]). [0]: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000008 PF: supervisor write access in kernel mode PF: error_code(0x0002) - not-present page PGD 8000000009f5e067 P4D 8000000009f5e067 PUD 9f5d067 PMD 0 Oops: 0002 [#1] PREEMPT SMP PTI CPU: 3 PID: 50 Comm: kworker/3:1 Not tainted 6.9.0-rc5-00191-gd091e579b864 #110 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.16.0-0-gd239552ce722-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 Workqueue: events delayed_fput RIP: 0010:skb_dequeue (./include/linux/skbuff.h:2386 ./include/linux/skbuff.h:2402 net/core/skbuff.c:3847) Code: 39 e3 74 3e 8b 43 10 48 89 ef 83 e8 01 89 43 10 49 8b 44 24 08 49 c7 44 24 08 00 00 00 00 49 8b 14 24 49 c7 04 24 00 00 00 00 <48> 89 42 08 48 89 10 e8 e7 c5 42 00 4c 89 e0 5b 5d 41 5c c3 cc cc RSP: 0018:ffffc900001bfd48 EFLAGS: 00000002 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff8880088f5ae8 RCX: 00000000361289f9 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000206 RDI: ffff8880088f5b00 RBP: ffff8880088f5b00 R08: 0000000000080000 R09: 0000000000000001 R10: 0000000000000003 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: ffff8880056b6a00 R13: ffff8880088f5280 R14: 0000000000000001 R15: ffff8880088f5a80 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff88807dd80000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000000000000008 CR3: 0000000006314000 CR4: 00000000007506f0 PKRU: 55555554 Call Trace: <TASK> unix_release_sock (net/unix/af_unix.c:654) unix_release (net/unix/af_unix.c:1050) __sock_release (net/socket.c:660) sock_close (net/socket.c:1423) __fput (fs/file_table.c:423) delayed_fput (fs/file_table.c:444 (discriminator 3)) process_one_work (kernel/workqueue.c:3259) worker_thread (kernel/workqueue.c:3329 kernel/workqueue.c:3416) kthread (kernel/kthread.c:388) ret_from_fork (arch/x86/kernel/process.c:153) ret_from_fork_asm (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:257) </TASK> Modules linked in: CR2: 0000000000000008
The exploitability of CVE-2024-36972 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).
This vulnerability, CVE-2024-36972, requires a high level of attack complexity and low privileges, making it difficult but not impossible to exploit. Organizations should ensure robust security configurations to mitigate risks.
A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.
Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.
Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.
Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2024-36972, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.
Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2024-36972, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.
The EPSS score estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the near future.
EPSS Score: 0.045% (probability of exploit)
EPSS Percentile: 18.4%
(lower percentile = lower relative risk)
This vulnerability is less risky than approximately 81.6% of others.
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