CVE-2024-39488
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: arm64: asm-bug: Add .align 2 to the end of __BUG_ENTRY When CONFIG_DEBUG_BUGVERBOSE=n, we fail to add necessary padding bytes to bug_table entries, and as a result the last entry in a bug table will be ignored, potentially leading to an unexpected panic(). All prior entries in the table will be handled correctly. The arm64 ABI requires that struct fields of up to 8 bytes are naturally-aligned, with padding added within a struct such that struct are suitably aligned within arrays. When CONFIG_DEBUG_BUGVERPOSE=y, the layout of a bug_entry is: struct bug_entry { signed int bug_addr_disp; // 4 bytes signed int file_disp; // 4 bytes unsigned short line; // 2 bytes unsigned short flags; // 2 bytes } ... with 12 bytes total, requiring 4-byte alignment. When CONFIG_DEBUG_BUGVERBOSE=n, the layout of a bug_entry is: struct bug_entry { signed int bug_addr_disp; // 4 bytes unsigned short flags; // 2 bytes < implicit padding > // 2 bytes } ... with 8 bytes total, with 6 bytes of data and 2 bytes of trailing padding, requiring 4-byte alginment. When we create a bug_entry in assembly, we align the start of the entry to 4 bytes, which implicitly handles padding for any prior entries. However, we do not align the end of the entry, and so when CONFIG_DEBUG_BUGVERBOSE=n, the final entry lacks the trailing padding bytes. For the main kernel image this is not a problem as find_bug() doesn't depend on the trailing padding bytes when searching for entries: for (bug = __start___bug_table; bug < __stop___bug_table; ++bug) if (bugaddr == bug_addr(bug)) return bug; However for modules, module_bug_finalize() depends on the trailing bytes when calculating the number of entries: mod->num_bugs = sechdrs[i].sh_size / sizeof(struct bug_entry); ... and as the last bug_entry lacks the necessary padding bytes, this entry will not be counted, e.g. in the case of a single entry: sechdrs[i].sh_size == 6 sizeof(struct bug_entry) == 8; sechdrs[i].sh_size / sizeof(struct bug_entry) == 0; Consequently module_find_bug() will miss the last bug_entry when it does: for (i = 0; i < mod->num_bugs; ++i, ++bug) if (bugaddr == bug_addr(bug)) goto out; ... which can lead to a kenrel panic due to an unhandled bug. This can be demonstrated with the following module: static int __init buginit(void) { WARN(1, "hello\n"); return 0; } static void __exit bugexit(void) { } module_init(buginit); module_exit(bugexit); MODULE_LICENSE("GPL"); ... which will trigger a kernel panic when loaded: ------------[ cut here ]------------ hello Unexpected kernel BRK exception at EL1 Internal error: BRK handler: 00000000f2000800 [#1] PREEMPT SMP Modules linked in: hello(O+) CPU: 0 PID: 50 Comm: insmod Tainted: G O 6.9.1 #8 Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT) pstate: 60400005 (nZCv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) pc : buginit+0x18/0x1000 [hello] lr : buginit+0x18/0x1000 [hello] sp : ffff800080533ae0 x29: ffff800080533ae0 x28: 0000000000000000 x27: 0000000000000000 x26: ffffaba8c4e70510 x25: ffff800080533c30 x24: ffffaba8c4a28a58 x23: 0000000000000000 x22: 0000000000000000 x21: ffff3947c0eab3c0 x20: ffffaba8c4e3f000 x19: ffffaba846464000 x18: 0000000000000006 x17: 0000000000000000 x16: ffffaba8c2492834 x15: 0720072007200720 x14: 0720072007200720 x13: ffffaba8c49b27c8 x12: 0000000000000312 x11: 0000000000000106 x10: ffffaba8c4a0a7c8 x9 : ffffaba8c49b27c8 x8 : 00000000ffffefff x7 : ffffaba8c4a0a7c8 x6 : 80000000fffff000 x5 : 0000000000000107 x4 : 0000000000000000 x3 : 0000000000000000 x2 : 0000000000000000 x1 : 0000000000000000 x0 : ffff3947c0eab3c0 Call trace: buginit+0x18/0x1000 [hello] do_one_initcall+0x80/0x1c8 do_init_module+0x60/0x218 load_module+0x1ba4/0x1d70 __do_sys_init_module+0x198/0x1d0 __arm64_sys_init_module+0x1c/0x28 invoke_syscall+0x48/0x114 el0_svc ---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 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>= 4.3, < 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, < 6.9.4CVSS 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 · scoped4.19.3165.4.2785.10.219
Upgrade to kernel 4.19.316 or later (for 4.19.x), 5.4.278 or later (for 5.4.x), 5.10.219 or later (for 5.10.x), or 5.15.161 or later (for 5.15.x)
- Identify the running kernel version using `uname -r`
- Determine if the system uses an arm64 (64-bit ARM) architecture via `uname -m` or `dpkg --print-architecture`
- If on arm64 and running an affected kernel version (< 4.19.316, < 5.4.278, < 5.10.219, or < 5.15.161), plan for a kernel upgrade
- Upgrade to a patched kernel version: 4.19.316+, 5.4.278+, 5.10.219+, or 5.15.161+ depending on the major version branch in use
- Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-39488 — 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-2024-39488 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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