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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2024-44976

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-09-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.10.7 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: ata: pata_macio: Fix DMA table overflow Kolbjørn and Jonáš reported that their 32-bit PowerMacs were crashing in pata-macio since commit 09fe2bfa6b83 ("ata: pata_macio: Fix max_segment_size with PAGE_SIZE == 64K"). For example: kernel BUG at drivers/ata/pata_macio.c:544! Oops: Exception in kernel mode, sig: 5 [#1] BE PAGE_SIZE=4K MMU=Hash SMP NR_CPUS=2 DEBUG_PAGEALLOC PowerMac ... NIP pata_macio_qc_prep+0xf4/0x190 LR pata_macio_qc_prep+0xfc/0x190 Call Trace: 0xc1421660 (unreliable) ata_qc_issue+0x14c/0x2d4 __ata_scsi_queuecmd+0x200/0x53c ata_scsi_queuecmd+0x50/0xe0 scsi_queue_rq+0x788/0xb1c __blk_mq_issue_directly+0x58/0xf4 blk_mq_plug_issue_direct+0x8c/0x1b4 blk_mq_flush_plug_list.part.0+0x584/0x5e0 __blk_flush_plug+0xf8/0x194 __submit_bio+0x1b8/0x2e0 submit_bio_noacct_nocheck+0x230/0x304 btrfs_work_helper+0x200/0x338 process_one_work+0x1a8/0x338 worker_thread+0x364/0x4c0 kthread+0x100/0x104 start_kernel_thread+0x10/0x14 That commit increased max_segment_size to 64KB, with the justification that the SCSI core was already using that size when PAGE_SIZE == 64KB, and that there was existing logic to split over-sized requests. However with a sufficiently large request, the splitting logic causes each sg to be split into two commands in the DMA table, leading to overflow of the DMA table, triggering the BUG_ON(). With default settings the bug doesn't trigger, because the request size is limited by max_sectors_kb == 1280, however max_sectors_kb can be increased, and apparently some distros do that by default using udev rules. Fix the bug for 4KB kernels by reverting to the old max_segment_size. For 64KB kernels the sg_tablesize needs to be halved, to allow for the possibility that each sg will be split into two.

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

A 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
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 6.10, < 6.10.7= 6.11

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 6.10.7 or later
Fixed in 6.10.7
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 6.10.7 or later (6.10.x series); Linux Kernel 6.11.1 or later (6.11.x series)

  1. Upgrade Linux kernel to version 6.10.7 or later for the 6.10.x stable series
  2. If using kernel 6.11.x, upgrade to 6.11.1 or later when available
  3. After upgrading, verify the kernel version with: uname -r
  4. For 64KB page size kernels, note that sg_tablesize is halved in the fix to accommodate potential DMA table splits
Caveat For 64KB page size kernels, the effective sg_tablesize is reduced by half, which may slightly impact maximum I/O request sizes in specific configurations

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

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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

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