๐Ÿ” CVE Alert

CVE-2024-53096

HIGH 7.8

mm: resolve faulty mmap_region() error path behaviour

CVSS Score
7.8
EPSS Score
0.0%
EPSS Percentile
0th

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm: resolve faulty mmap_region() error path behaviour The mmap_region() function is somewhat terrifying, with spaghetti-like control flow and numerous means by which issues can arise and incomplete state, memory leaks and other unpleasantness can occur. A large amount of the complexity arises from trying to handle errors late in the process of mapping a VMA, which forms the basis of recently observed issues with resource leaks and observable inconsistent state. Taking advantage of previous patches in this series we move a number of checks earlier in the code, simplifying things by moving the core of the logic into a static internal function __mmap_region(). Doing this allows us to perform a number of checks up front before we do any real work, and allows us to unwind the writable unmap check unconditionally as required and to perform a CONFIG_DEBUG_VM_MAPLE_TREE validation unconditionally also. We move a number of things here: 1. We preallocate memory for the iterator before we call the file-backed memory hook, allowing us to exit early and avoid having to perform complicated and error-prone close/free logic. We carefully free iterator state on both success and error paths. 2. The enclosing mmap_region() function handles the mapping_map_writable() logic early. Previously the logic had the mapping_map_writable() at the point of mapping a newly allocated file-backed VMA, and a matching mapping_unmap_writable() on success and error paths. We now do this unconditionally if this is a file-backed, shared writable mapping. If a driver changes the flags to eliminate VM_MAYWRITE, however doing so does not invalidate the seal check we just performed, and we in any case always decrement the counter in the wrapper. We perform a debug assert to ensure a driver does not attempt to do the opposite. 3. We also move arch_validate_flags() up into the mmap_region() function. This is only relevant on arm64 and sparc64, and the check is only meaningful for SPARC with ADI enabled. We explicitly add a warning for this arch if a driver invalidates this check, though the code ought eventually to be fixed to eliminate the need for this. With all of these measures in place, we no longer need to explicitly close the VMA on error paths, as we place all checks which might fail prior to a call to any driver mmap hook. This eliminates an entire class of errors, makes the code easier to reason about and more robust.

Vendor linux
Product linux
Ecosystems
Industries
Technology
Published Nov 25, 2024
Last Updated May 11, 2026
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Affected Versions

Linux / Linux
a3c08c021778dad30f69895e378843e9f423d734 < 43323a4e5b3f8ccc08e2f835abfdc7ee9da8f6ed 43bed0a13a5cdbb314d14f28c2bf2c60eb4e6e1e < 44f48eb9a6051826227bbd375446064fb2a43c6c deb0f6562884b5b4beb883d73e66a7d3a1b96d99 < 52c81fd0f5a8bf8032687b94ccf00d13b44cc5c8 deb0f6562884b5b4beb883d73e66a7d3a1b96d99 < bdc136e2b05fabcd780fe5f165d154eb779dfcb0 deb0f6562884b5b4beb883d73e66a7d3a1b96d99 < 5de195060b2e251a835f622759550e6202167641 6757330b1be5b0606125b65ed50caac69bccf9a5 66f2ed0172af04a89677ae1898600e1264e25800
Linux / Linux
6.1

References

NVD โ†— CVE.org โ†— EPSS Data โ†—
git.kernel.org: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/43323a4e5b3f8ccc08e2f835abfdc7ee9da8f6ed git.kernel.org: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/44f48eb9a6051826227bbd375446064fb2a43c6c git.kernel.org: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/52c81fd0f5a8bf8032687b94ccf00d13b44cc5c8 git.kernel.org: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bdc136e2b05fabcd780fe5f165d154eb779dfcb0 git.kernel.org: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5de195060b2e251a835f622759550e6202167641 project-zero.issues.chromium.org: https://project-zero.issues.chromium.org/issues/374117290 lists.debian.org: https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/03/msg00002.html lists.debian.org: https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/01/msg00001.html