powerpc/pseries: Enforce hcall result buffer validity and size
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Code execution
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 2 fixed, 4 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-787 and the CVSS impact.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powerpc/pseries: Enforce hcall result buffer validity and size plpar_hcall(), plpar_hcall9(), and related functions expect callers to provide valid result buffers of certain minimum size. Currently this is communicated only through comments in the code and the compiler has no idea. For example, if I write a bug like this: long retbuf[PLPAR_HCALL_BUFSIZE]; // should be PLPAR_HCALL9_BUFSIZE plpar_hcall9(H_ALLOCATE_VAS_WINDOW, retbuf, ...); This compiles with no diagnostics emitted, but likely results in stack corruption at runtime when plpar_hcall9() stores results past the end of the array. (To be clear this is a contrived example and I have not found a real instance yet.) To make this class of error less likely, we can use explicitly-sized array parameters instead of pointers in the declarations for the hcall APIs. When compiled with -Warray-bounds[1], the code above now provokes a diagnostic like this: error: array argument is too small; is of size 32, callee requires at least 72 [-Werror,-Warray-bounds] 60 | plpar_hcall9(H_ALLOCATE_VAS_WINDOW, retbuf, | ^ ~~~~~~ [1] Enabled for LLVM builds but not GCC for now. See commit 0da6e5fd6c37 ("gcc: disable '-Warray-bounds' for gcc-13 too") and related changes.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 2.6.19 and later | 4.19.317, 5.4.279, 5.10.221, 5.15.162, 6.1.96, 6.6.36, 6.9.7, 6.10 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 2.6.19 and later Fixed in 4.19.317, 5.4.279, 5.10.221, 5.15.162, 6.1.96, 6.6.36, 6.9.7, 6.10 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | before 4.19.317; 4.20 to before 5.4.279; 5.5 to before 5.10.221; 5.11 to before 5.15.162; 5.16 to before 6.1.96; 6.2 to before 6.6.36; 6.7 to before 6.9.7 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 4.19.317; 4.20 to before 5.4.279; 5.5 to before 5.10.221; 5.11 to before 5.15.162; 5.16 to before 6.1.96; 6.2 to before 6.6.36; 6.7 to before 6.9.7 Vulnerable ·Linux
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 4.19.317, 5.4.279, 5.10.221, 5.15.162, 6.1.96, 6.6.36, 6.9.7, 6.10
Red Hat 1 advisory
- RHSA-2024:5101 Released 2024-08-08 · Red Hat rating Importantkernel security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8) bpftool-4.18.0-553.16.1.el8_10, kernel-4.18.0-553.16.1.el8_10, kernel-abi-stablelists-4.18.0-553.16.1.el8_10 +19
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux CRB (v. 8) kernel-tools-libs-devel-4.18.0-553.16.1.el8_10
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8) | Fixed | RHSA-2024:5101 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux CRB (v. 8) | Fixed | RHSA-2024:5101 |
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2024-40974
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-gv48-p56m-p3qj
References
Patch 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/acf2b80c31c37acab040baa3cf5f19fbd5140b18
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/19c166ee42cf16d8b156a6cb4544122d9a65d3ca
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a8c988d752b3d98d5cc1e3929c519a55ef55426c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/262e942ff5a839b9e4f3302a8987928b0c8b8a2d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8aa11aa001576bf3b00dcb8559564ad7a3113588
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3ad0034910a57aa88ed9976b1431b7b8c84e0048
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/aa6107dcc4ce9a3451f2d729204713783b657257
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ff2e185cf73df480ec69675936c4ee75a445c3e4
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Sources
- CVE-2024-40974 · CVE Program
- CVE-2024-40974 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-gv48-p56m-p3qj · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2024-40974 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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