CVE-2024-56765
Published: 06 January 2025
Summary
CVE-2024-56765 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) 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 9.3th 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-2 (Flaw Remediation) and RA-5 (Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2024-56765 is a use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's powerpc/pseries/vas subsystem. The issue arises because the VMA address stored in the VAS window struct during paste address mapping is not updated after an munmap() operation, leading to invalid memory access during partition migration. This was detected by KASAN, reporting a slab-use-after-free in reconfig_close_windows() called from vas_migration_handler() and pseries_migrate_partition(). The vulnerability affects Linux kernels on PowerPC pSeries systems, 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) and is classified under CWE-416.
A local attacker with low privileges can exploit this vulnerability by mapping a paste address via mmap(), triggering an munmap() to free the VMA, and then initiating a partition migration while the VAS window remains active. This results in a use-after-free condition, potentially allowing arbitrary code execution, data corruption, or denial of service due to the high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Patches are available in upstream Linux kernel stable trees, including commits such as 05aa156e156ef3168e7ab8a68721945196495c17, 6d9cd27105459f169993a4c5f216499a946dbf34, 8b2282b5084521254a2cd9742a3f4e1d5b77f843, and b7f60ffdfd96f8fc826f1d61a1c6067d828e20b9, which add a close() callback to the vas_vm_ops struct to properly handle VMA unmapping. Debian LTS users are advised to update via the announcement at lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/03/msg00001.html. Mitigation requires applying these kernel updates on affected PowerPC pSeries systems.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-53408
Vulnerability details
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powerpc/pseries/vas: Add close() callback in vas_vm_ops struct The mapping VMA address is saved in VAS window struct when the paste address is mapped. This VMA address is used during migration…
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to unmap the paste address if the window is active. The paste address mapping will be removed when the window is closed or with the munmap(). But the VMA address in the VAS window is not updated with munmap() which is causing invalid access during migration. The KASAN report shows: [16386.254991] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in reconfig_close_windows+0x1a0/0x4e8 [16386.255043] Read of size 8 at addr c00000014a819670 by task drmgr/696928 [16386.255096] CPU: 29 UID: 0 PID: 696928 Comm: drmgr Kdump: loaded Tainted: G B 6.11.0-rc5-nxgzip #2 [16386.255128] Tainted: [B]=BAD_PAGE [16386.255148] Hardware name: IBM,9080-HEX Power11 (architected) 0x820200 0xf000007 of:IBM,FW1110.00 (NH1110_016) hv:phyp pSeries [16386.255181] Call Trace: [16386.255202] [c00000016b297660] [c0000000018ad0ac] dump_stack_lvl+0x84/0xe8 (unreliable) [16386.255246] [c00000016b297690] [c0000000006e8a90] print_report+0x19c/0x764 [16386.255285] [c00000016b297760] [c0000000006e9490] kasan_report+0x128/0x1f8 [16386.255309] [c00000016b297880] [c0000000006eb5c8] __asan_load8+0xac/0xe0 [16386.255326] [c00000016b2978a0] [c00000000013f898] reconfig_close_windows+0x1a0/0x4e8 [16386.255343] [c00000016b297990] [c000000000140e58] vas_migration_handler+0x3a4/0x3fc [16386.255368] [c00000016b297a90] [c000000000128848] pseries_migrate_partition+0x4c/0x4c4 ... [16386.256136] Allocated by task 696554 on cpu 31 at 16377.277618s: [16386.256149] kasan_save_stack+0x34/0x68 [16386.256163] kasan_save_track+0x34/0x80 [16386.256175] kasan_save_alloc_info+0x58/0x74 [16386.256196] __kasan_slab_alloc+0xb8/0xdc [16386.256209] kmem_cache_alloc_noprof+0x200/0x3d0 [16386.256225] vm_area_alloc+0x44/0x150 [16386.256245] mmap_region+0x214/0x10c4 [16386.256265] do_mmap+0x5fc/0x750 [16386.256277] vm_mmap_pgoff+0x14c/0x24c [16386.256292] ksys_mmap_pgoff+0x20c/0x348 [16386.256303] sys_mmap+0xd0/0x160 ... [16386.256350] Freed by task 0 on cpu 31 at 16386.204848s: [16386.256363] kasan_save_stack+0x34/0x68 [16386.256374] kasan_save_track+0x34/0x80 [16386.256384] kasan_save_free_info+0x64/0x10c [16386.256396] __kasan_slab_free+0x120/0x204 [16386.256415] kmem_cache_free+0x128/0x450 [16386.256428] vm_area_free_rcu_cb+0xa8/0xd8 [16386.256441] rcu_do_batch+0x2c8/0xcf0 [16386.256458] rcu_core+0x378/0x3c4 [16386.256473] handle_softirqs+0x20c/0x60c [16386.256495] do_softirq_own_stack+0x6c/0x88 [16386.256509] do_softirq_own_stack+0x58/0x88 [16386.256521] __irq_exit_rcu+0x1a4/0x20c [16386.256533] irq_exit+0x20/0x38 [16386.256544] interrupt_async_exit_prepare.constprop.0+0x18/0x2c ... [16386.256717] Last potentially related work creation: [16386.256729] kasan_save_stack+0x34/0x68 [16386.256741] __kasan_record_aux_stack+0xcc/0x12c [16386.256753] __call_rcu_common.constprop.0+0x94/0xd04 [16386.256766] vm_area_free+0x28/0x3c [16386.256778] remove_vma+0xf4/0x114 [16386.256797] do_vmi_align_munmap.constprop.0+0x684/0x870 [16386.256811] __vm_munmap+0xe0/0x1f8 [16386.256821] sys_munmap+0x54/0x6c [16386.256830] system_call_exception+0x1a0/0x4a0 [16386.256841] system_call_vectored_common+0x15c/0x2ec [16386.256868] The buggy address belongs to the object at c00000014a819670 which belongs to the cache vm_area_struct of size 168 [16386.256887] The buggy address is located 0 bytes inside of freed 168-byte region [c00000014a819670, c00000014a819718) [16386.256915] The buggy address belongs to the physical page: [16386.256928] page: refcount:1 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000 index:0x0 pfn:0x14a81 [16386.256950] memcg:c0000000ba430001 [16386.256961] anon flags: 0x43ffff800000000(node=4|zone=0|lastcpupid=0x7ffff) [16386.256975] page_type: 0xfdffffff(slab) [16386 ---truncated---
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Local low-priv use-after-free in kernel VAS subsystem directly enables exploitation for privilege escalation to arbitrary code execution.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Requires timely identification, reporting, and correction of flaws like the use-after-free in the Linux kernel VAS subsystem via available upstream patches.
Enforces memory protections to prevent unauthorized access or modification from invalid VMA references during partition migration.
Vulnerability scanning identifies CVE-2024-56765 in deployed Linux kernels on PowerPC pSeries systems to enable patching.