CVE-2024-50164

High

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Fix overloading of MEM_UNINIT's meaning Lonial reported an issue in the BPF verifier where check_mem_size_reg() has the following code: if (!tnum_is_const(reg->var_off)) /* For unprivileged variable accesses, disable raw * mode so that the program is required to * initialize all the memory that the helper could * just partially fill up. */ meta = NULL; This means that writes are not checked when the register containing the size of the passed buffer has not a fixed size. Through this bug, a BPF program can write to a map which is marked as read-only, for example, .rodata global maps. The problem is that MEM_UNINIT's initial meaning that "the passed buffer to the BPF helper does not need to be initialized" which was added back in commit 435faee1aae9 ("bpf, verifier: add ARG_PTR_TO_RAW_STACK type") got overloaded over time with "the passed buffer is being written to". The problem however is that checks such as the above which were added later via 06c1c049721a ("bpf: allow helpers access to variable memory") set meta to NULL in order force the user to always initialize the passed buffer to the helper. Due to the current double meaning of MEM_UNINIT, this bypasses verifier write checks to the memory (not boundary checks though) and only assumes the latter memory is read instead. Fix this by reverting MEM_UNINIT back to its original meaning, and having MEM_WRITE as an annotation to BPF helpers in order to then trigger the BPF verifier checks for writing to memory. Some notes: check_arg_pair_ok() ensures that for ARG_CONST_SIZE{,_OR_ZERO} we can access fn->arg_type[arg - 1] since it must contain a preceding ARG_PTR_TO_MEM. For check_mem_reg() the meta argument can be removed altogether since we do check both BPF_READ and BPF_WRITE. Same for the equivalent check_kfunc_mem_size_reg().

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2024-11-07
Last modified 2025-11-03
CVSS version 3.1
Patch available
Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

7.1

out of 10
High
Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Vector string
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 5.15.45, 5.17.13, 5.18.2, 5.19 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.1.125, 6.6.59, 6.11.6, 6.12 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 5.15.45 ≥ 5.17.13 ≥ 5.18.2 ≥ 5.19
Fixed in
✓ 6.1.125 6.1.x ✓ 6.6.59 6.6.x ✓ 6.11.6 6.11.x ✓ 6.12

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2024-50164 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Frequently asked questions

  • What is CVE-2024-50164?

    CVE-2024-50164 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.1 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 5.15.45 onward and has been patched in 6.1.125, 6.6.59, 6.11.6 and others. CVE-2024-50164 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • What is the CVSS score for CVE-2024-50164?

    CVE-2024-50164 has a CVSS score of 7.1 out of 10, rated High severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H .

  • Is there a patch available for CVE-2024-50164?

    Yes — CVE-2024-50164 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.1.125, 6.6.59, 6.11.6 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 5.15.45 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2024-50164 actively exploited?

    No — CVE-2024-50164 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.