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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2024-56542

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-12-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.11.11 / 6.12.2 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: drm/amd/display: fix a memleak issue when driver is removed Running "modprobe amdgpu" the second time (followed by a modprobe -r amdgpu) causes a call trace like: [ 845.212163] Memory manager not clean during takedown. [ 845.212170] WARNING: CPU: 4 PID: 2481 at drivers/gpu/drm/drm_mm.c:999 drm_mm_takedown+0x2b/0x40 [ 845.212177] Modules linked in: amdgpu(OE-) amddrm_ttm_helper(OE) amddrm_buddy(OE) amdxcp(OE) amd_sched(OE) drm_exec drm_suballoc_helper drm_display_helper i2c_algo_bit amdttm(OE) amdkcl(OE) cec rc_core sunrpc qrtr intel_rapl_msr intel_rapl_common snd_hda_codec_hdmi edac_mce_amd snd_hda_intel snd_intel_dspcfg snd_intel_sdw_acpi snd_usb_audio snd_hda_codec snd_usbmidi_lib kvm_amd snd_hda_core snd_ump mc snd_hwdep kvm snd_pcm snd_seq_midi snd_seq_midi_event irqbypass crct10dif_pclmul snd_rawmidi polyval_clmulni polyval_generic ghash_clmulni_intel sha256_ssse3 sha1_ssse3 snd_seq aesni_intel crypto_simd snd_seq_device cryptd snd_timer mfd_aaeon asus_nb_wmi eeepc_wmi joydev asus_wmi snd ledtrig_audio sparse_keymap ccp wmi_bmof input_leds k10temp i2c_piix4 platform_profile rapl soundcore gpio_amdpt mac_hid binfmt_misc msr parport_pc ppdev lp parport efi_pstore nfnetlink dmi_sysfs ip_tables x_tables autofs4 hid_logitech_hidpp hid_logitech_dj hid_generic usbhid hid ahci xhci_pci igc crc32_pclmul libahci xhci_pci_renesas video [ 845.212284] wmi [last unloaded: amddrm_ttm_helper(OE)] [ 845.212290] CPU: 4 PID: 2481 Comm: modprobe Tainted: G W OE 6.8.0-31-generic #31-Ubuntu [ 845.212296] RIP: 0010:drm_mm_takedown+0x2b/0x40 [ 845.212300] Code: 1f 44 00 00 48 8b 47 38 48 83 c7 38 48 39 f8 75 09 31 c0 31 ff e9 90 2e 86 00 55 48 c7 c7 d0 f6 8e 8a 48 89 e5 e8 f5 db 45 ff <0f> 0b 5d 31 c0 31 ff e9 74 2e 86 00 66 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 90 [ 845.212302] RSP: 0018:ffffb11302127ae0 EFLAGS: 00010246 [ 845.212305] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff92aa5020fc08 RCX: 0000000000000000 [ 845.212307] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 0000000000000000 [ 845.212309] RBP: ffffb11302127ae0 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 [ 845.212310] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: 0000000000000004 [ 845.212312] R13: ffff92aa50200000 R14: ffff92aa5020fb10 R15: ffff92aa5020faa0 [ 845.212313] FS: 0000707dd7c7c080(0000) GS:ffff92b93de00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 845.212316] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 845.212318] CR2: 00007d48b0aee200 CR3: 0000000115a58000 CR4: 0000000000f50ef0 [ 845.212320] PKRU: 55555554 [ 845.212321] Call Trace: [ 845.212323] <TASK> [ 845.212328] ? show_regs+0x6d/0x80 [ 845.212333] ? __warn+0x89/0x160 [ 845.212339] ? drm_mm_takedown+0x2b/0x40 [ 845.212344] ? report_bug+0x17e/0x1b0 [ 845.212350] ? handle_bug+0x51/0xa0 [ 845.212355] ? exc_invalid_op+0x18/0x80 [ 845.212359] ? asm_exc_invalid_op+0x1b/0x20 [ 845.212366] ? drm_mm_takedown+0x2b/0x40 [ 845.212371] amdgpu_gtt_mgr_fini+0xa9/0x130 [amdgpu] [ 845.212645] amdgpu_ttm_fini+0x264/0x340 [amdgpu] [ 845.212770] amdgpu_bo_fini+0x2e/0xc0 [amdgpu] [ 845.212894] gmc_v12_0_sw_fini+0x2a/0x40 [amdgpu] [ 845.213036] amdgpu_device_fini_sw+0x11a/0x590 [amdgpu] [ 845.213159] amdgpu_driver_release_kms+0x16/0x40 [amdgpu] [ 845.213302] devm_drm_dev_init_release+0x5e/0x90 [ 845.213305] devm_action_release+0x12/0x30 [ 845.213308] release_nodes+0x42/0xd0 [ 845.213311] devres_release_all+0x97/0xe0 [ 845.213314] device_unbind_cleanup+0x12/0x80 [ 845.213317] device_release_driver_internal+0x230/0x270 [ 845.213319] ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5 This is caused by lost memory during early init phase. First time driver is removed, memory is freed but when second time the driver is inserted, VBIOS dmub is not active, since the PSP policy is to retain the driver loaded version on subsequent warm boots. Hence, communication with VBIOS DMUB fails. Fix this by aborting further comm ---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-401

Allocated memory is never released on some path, so a long-running service or a repeatedly triggered request steadily consumes memory until performance degrades or the process crashes. Attackers exploit it by simply driving the leaking path. Remediation is pairing every allocation with a release and using ownership patterns or tooling to catch what leaks.

General guidance for the memory leak 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:>= 6.11.2, < 6.11.11>= 6.12, < 6.12.2

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 6.11.11 / 6.12.2 or later
Fixed in 6.11.116.12.2
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 6.11.11 or 6.12.2 (or later)

  1. Upgrade Linux kernel to version 6.11.11 or later within the 6.11.x branch
  2. Alternatively, upgrade to version 6.12.2 or later within the 6.12.x branch
  3. After kernel upgrade, reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  4. Verify the fix by reloading the amdgpu driver multiple times (modprobe amdgpu followed by modprobe -r amdgpu) and checking dmesg for memory leak warnings
Caveat Kernel upgrades may include other changes; review kernel release notes for potential regressions in the 6.11.11+ or 6.12.2+ releases

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

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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-2024-56542 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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