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TI-2024-36971 Aliases CVE-2024-55916GHSA-r35m-8jf8-g83g

Drivers: hv: util: Avoid accessing a ringbuffer not initialized yet

Priority LOW 24CWE-476Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Local
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
Denial of service
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
None · None · High
Fix status
Partial Red Hat: 3 without a fix

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-476.

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: Drivers: hv: util: Avoid accessing a ringbuffer not initialized yet If the KVP (or VSS) daemon starts before the VMBus channel's ringbuffer is fully initialized, we can hit the panic below: hv_utils: Registering HyperV Utility Driver hv_vmbus: registering driver hv_utils ... BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 CPU: 44 UID: 0 PID: 2552 Comm: hv_kvp_daemon Tainted: G E 6.11.0-rc3+ #1 RIP: 0010:hv_pkt_iter_first+0x12/0xd0 Call Trace: ... vmbus_recvpacket hv_kvp_onchannelcallback vmbus_on_event tasklet_action_common tasklet_action handle_softirqs irq_exit_rcu sysvec_hyperv_stimer0 </IRQ> <TASK> asm_sysvec_hyperv_stimer0 ... kvp_register_done hvt_op_read vfs_read ksys_read __x64_sys_read This can happen because the KVP/VSS channel callback can be invoked even before the channel is fully opened: 1) as soon as hv_kvp_init() -> hvutil_transport_init() creates /dev/vmbus/hv_kvp, the kvp daemon can open the device file immediately and register itself to the driver by writing a message KVP_OP_REGISTER1 to the file (which is handled by kvp_on_msg() ->kvp_handle_handshake()) and reading the file for the driver's response, which is handled by hvt_op_read(), which calls hvt->on_read(), i.e. kvp_register_done(). 2) the problem with kvp_register_done() is that it can cause the channel callback to be called even before the channel is fully opened, and when the channel callback is starting to run, util_probe()-> vmbus_open() may have not initialized the ringbuffer yet, so the callback can hit the panic of NULL pointer dereference. To reproduce the panic consistently, we can add a "ssleep(10)" for KVP in __vmbus_open(), just before the first hv_ringbuffer_init(), and then we unload and reload the driver hv_utils, and run the daemon manually within the 10 seconds. Fix the panic by reordering the steps in util_probe() so the char dev entry used by the KVP or VSS daemon is not created until after vmbus_open() has completed. This reordering prevents the race condition from happening.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00225 13th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial Linux (Linux): 5.4.289, 5.10.233, 5.15.176 +4Red Hat: 3 without a fix

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

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
LinuxLinux4.9 and later5.4.289, 5.10.233, 5.15.176, 6.1.122, 6.6.68, 6.12.7, 6.13Patch availableCNA
  • Linux VendorLinux Affected 4.9 and later Fixed in 5.4.289, 5.10.233, 5.15.176, 6.1.122, 6.6.68, 6.12.7, 6.13 Patch available CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 4

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*4.9 to before 5.4.289; 5.5 to before 5.10.233; 5.11 to before 5.15.176; 5.16 to before 6.1.122; 6.2 to before 6.6.68; 6.7 to before 6.12.7VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.13:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*6.13 rc1VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.13:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*6.13 rc2VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.13:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*6.13 rc3VulnerableLinux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 4.9 to before 5.4.289; 5.5 to before 5.10.233; 5.11 to before 5.15.176; 5.16 to before 6.1.122; 6.2 to before 6.6.68; 6.7 to before 6.12.7 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.13:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.13 rc1 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.13:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.13 rc2 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.13:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.13 rc3 Vulnerable ·Linux

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.4.289, 5.10.233, 5.15.176, 6.1.122, 6.6.68, 6.12.7, 6.13

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6AffectedNo fix planned: Out of support scope
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7AffectedNo fix planned: Out of support scope
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8AffectedNo fix planned: Out of support scope
Not affected: 1 product
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2024-55916
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-r35m-8jf8-g83g

References

  • TI-2025-26358 tls: fix handling of zero-length records on the rx_list KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2026-38352 netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
  • TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
  • TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
See all 15278 →

Sources