Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2024-42076

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-07-29
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.4 / 5.4.279 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
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: net: can: j1939: Initialize unused data in j1939_send_one() syzbot reported kernel-infoleak in raw_recvmsg() [1]. j1939_send_one() creates full frame including unused data, but it doesn't initialize it. This causes the kernel-infoleak issue. Fix this by initializing unused data. [1] BUG: KMSAN: kernel-infoleak in instrument_copy_to_user include/linux/instrumented.h:114 [inline] BUG: KMSAN: kernel-infoleak in copy_to_user_iter lib/iov_iter.c:24 [inline] BUG: KMSAN: kernel-infoleak in iterate_ubuf include/linux/iov_iter.h:29 [inline] BUG: KMSAN: kernel-infoleak in iterate_and_advance2 include/linux/iov_iter.h:245 [inline] BUG: KMSAN: kernel-infoleak in iterate_and_advance include/linux/iov_iter.h:271 [inline] BUG: KMSAN: kernel-infoleak in _copy_to_iter+0x366/0x2520 lib/iov_iter.c:185 instrument_copy_to_user include/linux/instrumented.h:114 [inline] copy_to_user_iter lib/iov_iter.c:24 [inline] iterate_ubuf include/linux/iov_iter.h:29 [inline] iterate_and_advance2 include/linux/iov_iter.h:245 [inline] iterate_and_advance include/linux/iov_iter.h:271 [inline] _copy_to_iter+0x366/0x2520 lib/iov_iter.c:185 copy_to_iter include/linux/uio.h:196 [inline] memcpy_to_msg include/linux/skbuff.h:4113 [inline] raw_recvmsg+0x2b8/0x9e0 net/can/raw.c:1008 sock_recvmsg_nosec net/socket.c:1046 [inline] sock_recvmsg+0x2c4/0x340 net/socket.c:1068 ____sys_recvmsg+0x18a/0x620 net/socket.c:2803 ___sys_recvmsg+0x223/0x840 net/socket.c:2845 do_recvmmsg+0x4fc/0xfd0 net/socket.c:2939 __sys_recvmmsg net/socket.c:3018 [inline] __do_sys_recvmmsg net/socket.c:3041 [inline] __se_sys_recvmmsg net/socket.c:3034 [inline] __x64_sys_recvmmsg+0x397/0x490 net/socket.c:3034 x64_sys_call+0xf6c/0x3b50 arch/x86/include/generated/asm/syscalls_64.h:300 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xcf/0x1e0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f Uninit was created at: slab_post_alloc_hook mm/slub.c:3804 [inline] slab_alloc_node mm/slub.c:3845 [inline] kmem_cache_alloc_node+0x613/0xc50 mm/slub.c:3888 kmalloc_reserve+0x13d/0x4a0 net/core/skbuff.c:577 __alloc_skb+0x35b/0x7a0 net/core/skbuff.c:668 alloc_skb include/linux/skbuff.h:1313 [inline] alloc_skb_with_frags+0xc8/0xbf0 net/core/skbuff.c:6504 sock_alloc_send_pskb+0xa81/0xbf0 net/core/sock.c:2795 sock_alloc_send_skb include/net/sock.h:1842 [inline] j1939_sk_alloc_skb net/can/j1939/socket.c:878 [inline] j1939_sk_send_loop net/can/j1939/socket.c:1142 [inline] j1939_sk_sendmsg+0xc0a/0x2730 net/can/j1939/socket.c:1277 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:730 [inline] __sock_sendmsg+0x30f/0x380 net/socket.c:745 ____sys_sendmsg+0x877/0xb60 net/socket.c:2584 ___sys_sendmsg+0x28d/0x3c0 net/socket.c:2638 __sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2667 [inline] __do_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2676 [inline] __se_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2674 [inline] __x64_sys_sendmsg+0x307/0x4a0 net/socket.c:2674 x64_sys_call+0xc4b/0x3b50 arch/x86/include/generated/asm/syscalls_64.h:47 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xcf/0x1e0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f Bytes 12-15 of 16 are uninitialized Memory access of size 16 starts at ffff888120969690 Data copied to user address 00000000200017c0 CPU: 1 PID: 5050 Comm: syz-executor198 Not tainted 6.9.0-rc5-syzkaller-00031-g71b1543c83d6 #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 03/27/2024

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-908

Memory or a resource is used before it has been initialised, so its contents are whatever happened to be there — sometimes leaking earlier data, sometimes values an attacker can influence. Behaviour becomes unpredictable and occasionally exploitable. Remediation is initialising every resource before use and ensuring initialisation happens on all code paths.

General guidance for the use of uninitialized resource 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:< 5.4>= 5.4.1, < 5.4.279>= 5.5, < 5.10.221>= 5.11, < 5.15.162>= 5.16, < 6.1.97>= 6.2, < 6.6.37>= 6.7, < 6.9.8

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
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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.4 / 5.4.279 / 5.10.221 or later
Fixed in 5.45.4.2795.10.221
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux 5.4.279, 5.10.221, or 5.15.162 (depending on which stable branch is in use)

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using `uname -r` or `cat /proc/version`
  2. Check if the current kernel version is within any of the affected ranges: < 5.4, >= 5.4.1 and < 5.4.279, >= 5.5 and < 5.10.221, or >= 5.11 and < 5.15.162
  3. If affected, upgrade the kernel to a fixed version: Linux 5.4.279 or later in the 5.4.x line, Linux 5.10.221 or later in the 5.10.x line, or Linux 5.15.162 or later in the 5.15.x line
  4. After kernel upgrade, reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  5. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version after reboot
Caveat Upgrading kernel versions may require system reboot and could introduce changes in drivers or modules; ensure compatibility with hardware and any custom kernel modules before upgrading

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 $1,600. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-42076 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-42076 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data