CVE-2024-40979
Linux Kernel 6.3 – 6.9.7
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2024-40979 is a high-severity Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime (CWE-401) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Endpoint Denial of Service (T1499); ranked at the 19th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-15 (Development Process, Standards, and Tools) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-38774
Vulnerability Data
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: ath12k: fix kernel crash during resume Currently during resume, QMI target memory is not properly handled, resulting in kernel crash in case DMA remap is not supported: BUG: Bad…
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page state in process kworker/u16:54 pfn:36e80 page: refcount:1 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000 index:0x0 pfn:0x36e80 page dumped because: nonzero _refcount Call Trace: bad_page free_page_is_bad_report __free_pages_ok __free_pages dma_direct_free dma_free_attrs ath12k_qmi_free_target_mem_chunk ath12k_qmi_msg_mem_request_cb The reason is: Once ath12k module is loaded, firmware sends memory request to host. In case DMA remap not supported, ath12k refuses the first request due to failure in allocating with large segment size: ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi firmware request memory request ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 1 size 7077888 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 4 size 8454144 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi dma allocation failed (7077888 B type 1), will try later with small size ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi delays mem_request 2 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi firmware request memory request Later firmware comes back with more but small segments and allocation succeeds: ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 1 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 1 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 1 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 1 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 1 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 1 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 1 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 1 size 262144 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 1 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 1 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 1 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 1 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 1 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 4 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 4 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 4 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 4 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 4 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 4 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 4 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 4 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 4 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 4 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 4 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 4 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 4 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 4 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 4 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 4 size 524288 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 4 size 65536 ath12k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qmi mem seg type 1 size 524288 Now ath12k is working. If suspend is triggered, firmware will be reloaded during resume. As same as before, firmware requests two large segments at first. In ath12k_qmi_msg_mem_request_cb() segment count and size are assigned: ab->qmi.mem_seg_count == 2 ab->qmi.target_mem[0].size == 7077888 ab->qmi.target_mem[1].size == 8454144 Then allocation failed like before and ath12k_qmi_free_target_mem_chunk() is called to free all allocated segments. Note the first segment is skipped because its v.addr is cleared due to allocation failure: chunk->v.addr = dma_alloc_coherent() Also note that this leaks that segment because it has not been freed. While freeing the second segment, a size of 8454144 is passed to dma_free_coherent(). However remember that this segment is allocated at the first time firmware is loaded, before suspend. So its real size is 524288, much smaller than 8454144. As a result kernel found we are freeing some memory which is in use and thus cras ---truncated---
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation (static analysis, fuzzing, or runtime leak detection) directly finds missing deallocation.
Requiring documented development standards and tools can mandate memory-management disciplines that avoid leaks at introduction.
An SDLC that incorporates security can embed memory-safety requirements, reducing the chance such coding errors are introduced.
Engineering principles applied during development can require explicit resource-release patterns that stop memory leaks from being coded.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Secure SDLC practices directly enforce proper memory allocation/deallocation via coding standards, reviews, and tooling.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing in development can detect unreleased memory, providing partial coverage of the weakness.
Secure development life cycle mandates memory-management practices that reduce missing-release defects.
Application security requirements can specify explicit memory-release rules, partially mitigating the weakness.
Secure system architecture and engineering principles include resource-management guidelines that address memory leaks.
Secure coding standards directly require proper allocation/deallocation, covering most of this weakness.
Capacity management may detect memory exhaustion symptoms but does not prevent the coding flaw.