NULL Pointer Dereference Affecting kernel-debug package, versions <0:5.14.0-427.26.1.el9_4


Severity

Recommended
high

Based on Oracle Linux security rating.

Threat Intelligence

EPSS
0.04% (6th percentile)

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  • Snyk IDSNYK-ORACLE9-KERNELDEBUG-7546125
  • published20 Jul 2024
  • disclosed19 Jun 2024

Introduced: 19 Jun 2024

CVE-2024-38543  (opens in a new tab)
CWE-476  (opens in a new tab)

How to fix?

Upgrade Oracle:9 kernel-debug to version 0:5.14.0-427.26.1.el9_4 or higher.
This issue was patched in ELSA-2024-4583.

NVD Description

Note: Versions mentioned in the description apply only to the upstream kernel-debug package and not the kernel-debug package as distributed by Oracle. See How to fix? for Oracle:9 relevant fixed versions and status.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

lib/test_hmm.c: handle src_pfns and dst_pfns allocation failure

The kcalloc() in dmirror_device_evict_chunk() will return null if the physical memory has run out. As a result, if src_pfns or dst_pfns is dereferenced, the null pointer dereference bug will happen.

Moreover, the device is going away. If the kcalloc() fails, the pages mapping a chunk could not be evicted. So add a __GFP_NOFAIL flag in kcalloc().

Finally, as there is no need to have physically contiguous memory, Switch kcalloc() to kvcalloc() in order to avoid failing allocations.

CVSS Scores

version 3.1