Security assessments indicate that CVE-2024-56673 presents a notable risk, potentially requiring prompt mitigation.
Status: Analyzed
Last updated: 🕒 06 Jan 2025, 15:08 UTC
Originally published on: 🕒 27 Dec 2024, 15:15 UTC
Time between publication and last update: 9 days
CVSS Release: version 3
nvd@nist.gov
Primary
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVE-2024-56673: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: riscv: mm: Do not call pmd dtor on vmemmap page table teardown The vmemmap's, which is used for RV64 with SPARSEMEM_VMEMMAP, page tables are populated using pmd (page middle directory) hugetables. However, the pmd allocation is not using the generic mechanism used by the VMA code (e.g. pmd_alloc()), or the RISC-V specific create_pgd_mapping()/alloc_pmd_late(). Instead, the vmemmap page table code allocates a page, and calls vmemmap_set_pmd(). This results in that the pmd ctor is *not* called, nor would it make sense to do so. Now, when tearing down a vmemmap page table pmd, the cleanup code would unconditionally, and incorrectly call the pmd dtor, which results in a crash (best case). This issue was found when running the HMM selftests: | tools/testing/selftests/mm# ./test_hmm.sh smoke | ... # when unloading the test_hmm.ko module | page: refcount:1 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000 index:0x0 pfn:0x10915b | flags: 0x1000000000000000(node=0|zone=1) | raw: 1000000000000000 0000000000000000 dead000000000122 0000000000000000 | raw: 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 00000001ffffffff 0000000000000000 | page dumped because: VM_BUG_ON_PAGE(ptdesc->pmd_huge_pte) | ------------[ cut here ]------------ | kernel BUG at include/linux/mm.h:3080! | Kernel BUG [#1] | Modules linked in: test_hmm(-) sch_fq_codel fuse drm drm_panel_orientation_quirks backlight dm_mod | CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 514 Comm: modprobe Tainted: G W 6.12.0-00982-gf2a4f1682d07 #2 | Tainted: [W]=WARN | Hardware name: riscv-virtio qemu/qemu, BIOS 2024.10 10/01/2024 | epc : remove_pgd_mapping+0xbec/0x1070 | ra : remove_pgd_mapping+0xbec/0x1070 | epc : ffffffff80010a68 ra : ffffffff80010a68 sp : ff20000000a73940 | gp : ffffffff827b2d88 tp : ff6000008785da40 t0 : ffffffff80fbce04 | t1 : 0720072007200720 t2 : 706d756420656761 s0 : ff20000000a73a50 | s1 : ff6000008915cff8 a0 : 0000000000000039 a1 : 0000000000000008 | a2 : ff600003fff0de20 a3 : 0000000000000000 a4 : 0000000000000000 | a5 : 0000000000000000 a6 : c0000000ffffefff a7 : ffffffff824469b8 | s2 : ff1c0000022456c0 s3 : ff1ffffffdbfffff s4 : ff6000008915c000 | s5 : ff6000008915c000 s6 : ff6000008915c000 s7 : ff1ffffffdc00000 | s8 : 0000000000000001 s9 : ff1ffffffdc00000 s10: ffffffff819a31f0 | s11: ffffffffffffffff t3 : ffffffff8000c950 t4 : ff60000080244f00 | t5 : ff60000080244000 t6 : ff20000000a73708 | status: 0000000200000120 badaddr: ffffffff80010a68 cause: 0000000000000003 | [<ffffffff80010a68>] remove_pgd_mapping+0xbec/0x1070 | [<ffffffff80fd238e>] vmemmap_free+0x14/0x1e | [<ffffffff8032e698>] section_deactivate+0x220/0x452 | [<ffffffff8032ef7e>] sparse_remove_section+0x4a/0x58 | [<ffffffff802f8700>] __remove_pages+0x7e/0xba | [<ffffffff803760d8>] memunmap_pages+0x2bc/0x3fe | [<ffffffff02a3ca28>] dmirror_device_remove_chunks+0x2ea/0x518 [test_hmm] | [<ffffffff02a3e026>] hmm_dmirror_exit+0x3e/0x1018 [test_hmm] | [<ffffffff80102c14>] __riscv_sys_delete_module+0x15a/0x2a6 | [<ffffffff80fd020c>] do_trap_ecall_u+0x1f2/0x266 | [<ffffffff80fde0a2>] _new_vmalloc_restore_context_a0+0xc6/0xd2 | Code: bf51 7597 0184 8593 76a5 854a 4097 0029 80e7 2c00 (9002) 7597 | ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- | Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception in interrupt Add a check to avoid calling the pmd dtor, if the calling context is vmemmap_free().
The exploitability of CVE-2024-56673 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).
CVE-2024-56673 presents an accessible attack vector with minimal effort required. Restricting access controls and implementing security updates are critical to reducing exploitation 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-2024-56673, 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-2024-56673, 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: 0.043% (probability of exploit)
EPSS Percentile: 11.87%
(lower percentile = lower relative risk)
This vulnerability is less risky than approximately 88.13% of others.
NVD-CWE-noinfo
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