Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2024-36928

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-30
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.11 / 5.15.159 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: s390/qeth: Fix kernel panic after setting hsuid Symptom: When the hsuid attribute is set for the first time on an IQD Layer3 device while the corresponding network interface is already UP, the kernel will try to execute a napi function pointer that is NULL. Example: --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [ 2057.572696] illegal operation: 0001 ilc:1 [#1] SMP [ 2057.572702] Modules linked in: af_iucv qeth_l3 zfcp scsi_transport_fc sunrpc nft_fib_inet nft_fib_ipv4 nft_fib_ipv6 nft_fib nft_reject_inet nf_reject_ipv4 nf_reject_ipv6 nft_reject nft_ct nf_tables_set nft_chain_nat nf_nat nf_conntrack nf_defrag_ipv6 nf_defrag_ipv4 ip_set nf_tables libcrc32c nfnetlink ghash_s390 prng xts aes_s390 des_s390 de s_generic sha3_512_s390 sha3_256_s390 sha512_s390 vfio_ccw vfio_mdev mdev vfio_iommu_type1 eadm_sch vfio ext4 mbcache jbd2 qeth_l2 bridge stp llc dasd_eckd_mod qeth dasd_mod qdio ccwgroup pkey zcrypt [ 2057.572739] CPU: 6 PID: 60182 Comm: stress_client Kdump: loaded Not tainted 4.18.0-541.el8.s390x #1 [ 2057.572742] Hardware name: IBM 3931 A01 704 (LPAR) [ 2057.572744] Krnl PSW : 0704f00180000000 0000000000000002 (0x2) [ 2057.572748] R:0 T:1 IO:1 EX:1 Key:0 M:1 W:0 P:0 AS:3 CC:3 PM:0 RI:0 EA:3 [ 2057.572751] Krnl GPRS: 0000000000000004 0000000000000000 00000000a3b008d8 0000000000000000 [ 2057.572754] 00000000a3b008d8 cb923a29c779abc5 0000000000000000 00000000814cfd80 [ 2057.572756] 000000000000012c 0000000000000000 00000000a3b008d8 00000000a3b008d8 [ 2057.572758] 00000000bab6d500 00000000814cfd80 0000000091317e46 00000000814cfc68 [ 2057.572762] Krnl Code:#0000000000000000: 0000 illegal >0000000000000002: 0000 illegal 0000000000000004: 0000 illegal 0000000000000006: 0000 illegal 0000000000000008: 0000 illegal 000000000000000a: 0000 illegal 000000000000000c: 0000 illegal 000000000000000e: 0000 illegal [ 2057.572800] Call Trace: [ 2057.572801] ([<00000000ec639700>] 0xec639700) [ 2057.572803] [<00000000913183e2>] net_rx_action+0x2ba/0x398 [ 2057.572809] [<0000000091515f76>] __do_softirq+0x11e/0x3a0 [ 2057.572813] [<0000000090ce160c>] do_softirq_own_stack+0x3c/0x58 [ 2057.572817] ([<0000000090d2cbd6>] do_softirq.part.1+0x56/0x60) [ 2057.572822] [<0000000090d2cc60>] __local_bh_enable_ip+0x80/0x98 [ 2057.572825] [<0000000091314706>] __dev_queue_xmit+0x2be/0xd70 [ 2057.572827] [<000003ff803dd6d6>] afiucv_hs_send+0x24e/0x300 [af_iucv] [ 2057.572830] [<000003ff803dd88a>] iucv_send_ctrl+0x102/0x138 [af_iucv] [ 2057.572833] [<000003ff803de72a>] iucv_sock_connect+0x37a/0x468 [af_iucv] [ 2057.572835] [<00000000912e7e90>] __sys_connect+0xa0/0xd8 [ 2057.572839] [<00000000912e9580>] sys_socketcall+0x228/0x348 [ 2057.572841] [<0000000091514e1a>] system_call+0x2a6/0x2c8 [ 2057.572843] Last Breaking-Event-Address: [ 2057.572844] [<0000000091317e44>] __napi_poll+0x4c/0x1d8 [ 2057.572846] [ 2057.572847] Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception in interrupt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Analysis: There is one napi structure per out_q: card->qdio.out_qs[i].napi The napi.poll functions are set during qeth_open(). Since commit 1cfef80d4c2b ("s390/qeth: Don't call dev_close/dev_open (DOWN/UP)") qeth_set_offline()/qeth_set_online() no longer call dev_close()/ dev_open(). So if qeth_free_qdio_queues() cleared card->qdio.out_qs[i].napi.poll while the network interface was UP and the card was offline, they are not set again. Reproduction: chzdev -e $devno layer2=0 ip link set dev $network_interface up echo 0 > /sys/bus/ccw ---truncated---

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-476

The code follows a pointer that is null, crashing the process. An attacker who can reliably trigger it turns the crash into a denial of service. The fix is checking for null before use and handling the failure path gracefully.

General guidance for the null pointer dereference class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 5.10.190, < 5.11>= 5.15.126, < 5.15.159>= 6.1.45, < 6.1.91>= 6.4.10, < 6.6.31>= 6.7, < 6.8.10= 6.9

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.11 / 5.15.159 / 6.1.91 or later
Fixed in 5.115.15.1596.1.91
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux kernel 5.11, 5.15.159, 6.1.91, or 6.6.31 (or later stable releases in those branches)

  1. Upgrade the Linux kernel to a version that includes the fix for this vulnerability. The fixed versions are: 5.11 or later, 5.15.159 or later, 6.1.91 or later, or 6.6.31 or later.
  2. After upgrading the kernel, reboot the system to load the fixed kernel version.
  3. For production systems, consider upgrading to the latest stable kernel release in your branch (e.g., 5.15.x → 5.15.y, 6.1.x → 6.1.y) to receive additional stability fixes.
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require driver compatibility verification for custom or out-of-tree kernel modules. Ensure all kernel modules (especially s390/qeth and related IBM System z drivers) are compatible with the target kernel version.

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $3,200. Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-36928 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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