CVE-2024-38636
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 · uneditedIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: f2fs: multidev: fix to recognize valid zero block address As reported by Yi Zhang in mailing list [1], kernel warning was catched during zbd/010 test as below: ./check zbd/010 zbd/010 (test gap zone support with F2FS) [failed] runtime ... 3.752s something found in dmesg: [ 4378.146781] run blktests zbd/010 at 2024-02-18 11:31:13 [ 4378.192349] null_blk: module loaded [ 4378.209860] null_blk: disk nullb0 created [ 4378.413285] scsi_debug:sdebug_driver_probe: scsi_debug: trim poll_queues to 0. poll_q/nr_hw = (0/1) [ 4378.422334] scsi host15: scsi_debug: version 0191 [20210520] dev_size_mb=1024, opts=0x0, submit_queues=1, statistics=0 [ 4378.434922] scsi 15:0:0:0: Direct-Access-ZBC Linux scsi_debug 0191 PQ: 0 ANSI: 7 [ 4378.443343] scsi 15:0:0:0: Power-on or device reset occurred [ 4378.449371] sd 15:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg5 type 20 [ 4378.449418] sd 15:0:0:0: [sdf] Host-managed zoned block device ... (See '/mnt/tests/gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/19168116/repository/archive.zip/storage/blktests/blk/blktests/results/nodev/zbd/010.dmesg' WARNING: CPU: 22 PID: 44011 at fs/iomap/iter.c:51 CPU: 22 PID: 44011 Comm: fio Not tainted 6.8.0-rc3+ #1 RIP: 0010:iomap_iter+0x32b/0x350 Call Trace: <TASK> __iomap_dio_rw+0x1df/0x830 f2fs_file_read_iter+0x156/0x3d0 [f2fs] aio_read+0x138/0x210 io_submit_one+0x188/0x8c0 __x64_sys_io_submit+0x8c/0x1a0 do_syscall_64+0x86/0x170 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x6e/0x76 Shinichiro Kawasaki helps to analyse this issue and proposes a potential fixing patch in [2]. Quoted from reply of Shinichiro Kawasaki: "I confirmed that the trigger commit is dbf8e63f48af as Yi reported. I took a look in the commit, but it looks fine to me. So I thought the cause is not in the commit diff. I found the WARN is printed when the f2fs is set up with multiple devices, and read requests are mapped to the very first block of the second device in the direct read path. In this case, f2fs_map_blocks() and f2fs_map_blocks_cached() modify map->m_pblk as the physical block address from each block device. It becomes zero when it is mapped to the first block of the device. However, f2fs_iomap_begin() assumes that map->m_pblk is the physical block address of the whole f2fs, across the all block devices. It compares map->m_pblk against NULL_ADDR == 0, then go into the unexpected branch and sets the invalid iomap->length. The WARN catches the invalid iomap->length. This WARN is printed even for non-zoned block devices, by following steps. - Create two (non-zoned) null_blk devices memory backed with 128MB size each: nullb0 and nullb1. # mkfs.f2fs /dev/nullb0 -c /dev/nullb1 # mount -t f2fs /dev/nullb0 "${mount_dir}" # dd if=/dev/zero of="${mount_dir}/test.dat" bs=1M count=192 # dd if="${mount_dir}/test.dat" of=/dev/null bs=1M count=192 iflag=direct ..." So, the root cause of this issue is: when multi-devices feature is on, f2fs_map_blocks() may return zero blkaddr in non-primary device, which is a verified valid block address, however, f2fs_iomap_begin() treats it as an invalid block address, and then it triggers the warning in iomap framework code. Finally, as discussed, we decide to use a more simple and direct way that checking (map.m_flags & F2FS_MAP_MAPPED) condition instead of (map.m_pblk != NULL_ADDR) to fix this issue. Thanks a lot for the effort of Yi Zhang and Shinichiro Kawasaki on this issue. [1] https://lore.kernel.org/linux-f2fs-devel/CAHj4cs-kfojYC9i0G73PRkYzcxCTex=-vugRFeP40g_URGvnfQ@mail.gmail.com/ [2] https://lore.kernel.org/linux-f2fs-devel/gngdj77k4picagsfdtiaa7gpgnup6fsgwzsltx6milmhegmjff@iax2n4wvrqye/
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 analysisA detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.
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>= 5.17, < 6.1.93>= 6.2, < 6.6.33>= 6.7, < 6.9.4CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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 · scoped6.1.936.6.336.9.4
Linux kernel 6.1.93+ (6.1.y), 6.6.33+ (6.6.y), or 6.9.4+ (6.7-6.9.y)
- Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using 'uname -r'
- Check which kernel branch your distribution uses (e.g., 6.1.y, 6.6.y, or 6.9.y)
- Upgrade the kernel package to a fixed version: for 6.1.y branch upgrade to >= 6.1.93, for 6.6.y branch upgrade to >= 6.6.33, or for 6.7-6.8 branch upgrade to >= 6.9.4
- Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
- Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version with 'uname -r' and confirming the F2FS multi-device read operation works without triggering the warning
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-38636 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-38636 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
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