CVE-2024-54456
Published: 27 February 2025
Summary
CVE-2024-54456 is a high-severity Out-of-bounds Write (CWE-787) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 5.0th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SI-16 (Memory Protection) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2024-54456 is a potential buffer overflow vulnerability in the Linux kernel's NFS implementation, specifically within the nfs_sysfs_link_rpc_client() function. The issue arises because a fixed-size char[64] buffer named 'name' is populated using strcat(), where the size of the input string clnt->cl_program->name is unknown, leading to possible overflow. This has been classified under CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write) with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).
A local attacker with low privileges can exploit this vulnerability without user interaction. Successful exploitation could result in high impacts to confidentiality, integrity, and availability, potentially allowing arbitrary code execution, data corruption, or system crashes due to the buffer overflow.
Mitigation involves applying the relevant Linux kernel patches, as detailed in the stable commit references. These commits replace the unsafe strcat() calls with strscpy() and strncat() to ensure bounds-safe string operations and prevent overflows. Security practitioners should update affected kernel versions accordingly.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-5227
Vulnerability details
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: NFS: Fix potential buffer overflowin nfs_sysfs_link_rpc_client() name is char[64] where the size of clnt->cl_program->name remains unknown. Invoking strcat() directly will also lead to potential buffer overflow. Change them to strscpy()…
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and strncat() to fix potential issues.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Local kernel buffer overflow (CWE-787) with low-priv AV:L access enabling arbitrary code execution and full impacts, directly mapping to exploitation for privilege escalation.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Mandates timely identification, reporting, prioritization, and correction of flaws, directly addressing the buffer overflow in nfs_sysfs_link_rpc_client() via kernel patching.
Implements memory protections like stack canaries and non-executable memory that prevent exploitation or detect buffer overflows in kernel stack operations such as strcat() usage.
Requires vulnerability scanning to identify the specific Linux kernel buffer overflow vulnerability for subsequent remediation.