Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2024-40927

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-07-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.15.162 / 6.1.95 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: xhci: Handle TD clearing for multiple streams case When multiple streams are in use, multiple TDs might be in flight when an endpoint is stopped. We need to issue a Set TR Dequeue Pointer for each, to ensure everything is reset properly and the caches cleared. Change the logic so that any N>1 TDs found active for different streams are deferred until after the first one is processed, calling xhci_invalidate_cancelled_tds() again from xhci_handle_cmd_set_deq() to queue another command until we are done with all of them. Also change the error/"should never happen" paths to ensure we at least clear any affected TDs, even if we can't issue a command to clear the hardware cache, and complain loudly with an xhci_warn() if this ever happens. This problem case dates back to commit e9df17eb1408 ("USB: xhci: Correct assumptions about number of rings per endpoint.") early on in the XHCI driver's life, when stream support was first added. It was then identified but not fixed nor made into a warning in commit 674f8438c121 ("xhci: split handling halted endpoints into two steps"), which added a FIXME comment for the problem case (without materially changing the behavior as far as I can tell, though the new logic made the problem more obvious). Then later, in commit 94f339147fc3 ("xhci: Fix failure to give back some cached cancelled URBs."), it was acknowledged again. [Mathias: commit 94f339147fc3 ("xhci: Fix failure to give back some cached cancelled URBs.") was a targeted regression fix to the previously mentioned patch. Users reported issues with usb stuck after unmounting/disconnecting UAS devices. This rolled back the TD clearing of multiple streams to its original state.] Apparently the commit author was aware of the problem (yet still chose to submit it): It was still mentioned as a FIXME, an xhci_dbg() was added to log the problem condition, and the remaining issue was mentioned in the commit description. The choice of making the log type xhci_dbg() for what is, at this point, a completely unhandled and known broken condition is puzzling and unfortunate, as it guarantees that no actual users would see the log in production, thereby making it nigh undebuggable (indeed, even if you turn on DEBUG, the message doesn't really hint at there being a problem at all). It took me *months* of random xHC crashes to finally find a reliable repro and be able to do a deep dive debug session, which could all have been avoided had this unhandled, broken condition been actually reported with a warning, as it should have been as a bug intentionally left in unfixed (never mind that it shouldn't have been left in at all). > Another fix to solve clearing the caches of all stream rings with > cancelled TDs is needed, but not as urgent. 3 years after that statement and 14 years after the original bug was introduced, I think it's finally time to fix it. And maybe next time let's not leave bugs unfixed (that are actually worse than the original bug), and let's actually get people to review kernel commits please. Fixes xHC crashes and IOMMU faults with UAS devices when handling errors/faults. Easiest repro is to use `hdparm` to mark an early sector (e.g. 1024) on a disk as bad, then `cat /dev/sdX > /dev/null` in a loop. At least in the case of JMicron controllers, the read errors end up having to cancel two TDs (for two queued requests to different streams) and the one that didn't get cleared properly ends up faulting the xHC entirely when it tries to access DMA pages that have since been unmapped, referred to by the stale TDs. This normally happens quickly (after two or three loops). After this fix, I left the `cat` in a loop running overnight and experienced no xHC failures, with all read errors recovered properly. Repro'd and tested on an Apple M1 Mac Mini (dwc3 host). On systems without an IOMMU, this bug would instead silently corrupt freed memory, making this a ---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-416

Memory is used after it has been freed, so its contents — now potentially attacker-controlled — drive the program's behaviour. With careful heap grooming this becomes code execution. The fix requires disciplined ownership of memory and often a targeted rework of the object lifecycle.

General guidance for the use after free 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:>= 2.6.35, < 5.15.162>= 5.16, < 6.1.95>= 6.2, < 6.6.35>= 6.7, < 6.9.6= 6.10

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 5.15.162 / 6.1.95 / 6.6.35 or later
Fixed in 5.15.1626.1.956.6.35
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

5.15.162, 6.1.95, 6.6.35, or 6.9.6 (depending on kernel branch)

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Determine which kernel branch the system is running (e.g., 5.15.x, 6.1.x, 6.2.x, 6.7.x)
  3. Upgrade the Linux kernel to a version that includes the fix: for 5.15.x branch upgrade to >= 5.15.162, for 6.1.x branch upgrade to >= 6.1.95, for 6.2.x branch upgrade to >= 6.6.35, or for 6.7.x branch upgrade to >= 6.9.6
  4. On Debian/Ubuntu: run `apt-get update && apt-get upgrade` or install the specific kernel package
  5. On RHEL/CentOS: run `yum update kernel` or `dnf update kernel`
  6. Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel using `reboot`
  7. Verify the new kernel version is running with `uname -r`
Caveat Kernel upgrades may introduce regressions; test in staging environment first; some hardware may require specific kernel versions

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-2024-40927 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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