Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2024-38599

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-06-19
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.19.316 / 5.4.278 or later.
See remediation →
73/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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: jffs2: prevent xattr node from overflowing the eraseblock Add a check to make sure that the requested xattr node size is no larger than the eraseblock minus the cleanmarker. Unlike the usual inode nodes, the xattr nodes aren't split into parts and spread across multiple eraseblocks, which means that a xattr node must not occupy more than one eraseblock. If the requested xattr value is too large, the xattr node can spill onto the next eraseblock, overwriting the nodes and causing errors such as: jffs2: argh. node added in wrong place at 0x0000b050(2) jffs2: nextblock 0x0000a000, expected at 0000b00c jffs2: error: (823) do_verify_xattr_datum: node CRC failed at 0x01e050, read=0xfc892c93, calc=0x000000 jffs2: notice: (823) jffs2_get_inode_nodes: Node header CRC failed at 0x01e00c. {848f,2fc4,0fef511f,59a3d171} jffs2: Node at 0x0000000c with length 0x00001044 would run over the end of the erase block jffs2: Perhaps the file system was created with the wrong erase size? jffs2: jffs2_scan_eraseblock(): Magic bitmask 0x1985 not found at 0x00000010: 0x1044 instead This breaks the filesystem and can lead to KASAN crashes such as: BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in jffs2_sum_add_kvec+0x125e/0x15d0 Read of size 4 at addr ffff88802c31e914 by task repro/830 CPU: 0 PID: 830 Comm: repro Not tainted 6.9.0-rc3+ #1 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS Arch Linux 1.16.3-1-1 04/01/2014 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0xc6/0x120 print_report+0xc4/0x620 ? __virt_addr_valid+0x308/0x5b0 kasan_report+0xc1/0xf0 ? jffs2_sum_add_kvec+0x125e/0x15d0 ? jffs2_sum_add_kvec+0x125e/0x15d0 jffs2_sum_add_kvec+0x125e/0x15d0 jffs2_flash_direct_writev+0xa8/0xd0 jffs2_flash_writev+0x9c9/0xef0 ? __x64_sys_setxattr+0xc4/0x160 ? do_syscall_64+0x69/0x140 ? entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e [...] Found by Linux Verification Center (linuxtesting.org) with Syzkaller.

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-125

The code reads past the end (or before the start) of a buffer, returning memory that was never meant to be exposed. Attackers use it to leak secrets like keys or to defeat memory-protection defences. Remediation is validating indices and lengths before every read.

General guidance for the out-of-bounds read 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:>= 2.6.18, < 4.19.316>= 4.20, < 5.4.278>= 5.5, < 5.10.219>= 5.11, < 5.15.161>= 5.16, < 6.1.93>= 6.2, < 6.6.33>= 6.7, < 6.8.12>= 6.9, < 6.9.3

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
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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 4.19.316 / 5.4.278 / 5.10.219 or later
Fixed in 4.19.3165.4.2785.10.219
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

4.19.316+ / 5.4.278+ / 5.10.219+ / 5.15.161+ (depending on which major version branch you are on)

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Determine which affected branch your kernel version falls into (4.19.x, 5.4.x, 5.10.x, or 5.15.x)
  3. Upgrade the kernel to the patched version for your branch: 4.19.316 or higher, 5.4.278 or higher, 5.10.219 or higher, or 5.15.161 or higher
  4. Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
  5. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version matches or exceeds the patched release
  6. For production systems, test the upgrade in a staging environment first to ensure compatibility with existing JFFS2 filesystems
Caveat Kernel upgrades may introduce compatibility changes; test thoroughly especially if using JFFS2 filesystems with extended attributes

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-2024-38599 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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