CVE-2024-57908
Published: 19 January 2025
Summary
CVE-2024-57908 is a high-severity Use of Uninitialized Resource (CWE-908) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 7.1 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data from Local System (T1005); ranked at the 3.5th 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 CM-7 (Least Functionality) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).
Threat & Defense at a Glance
Threat & Defense Details
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI
Directly mitigates the vulnerability by requiring timely patching of the uninitialized buffer flaw in the kmx61 IIO driver to prevent kernel memory disclosure.
Prevents exploitation by disabling or restricting the unnecessary kmx61 IMU driver and its triggered buffer functionality if not required for system operations.
Requires sanitization and filtering of output from the triggered buffer to userspace, addressing the leak of uninitialized kernel memory through inactive channels.
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Kernel info leak via local IIO driver interface directly enables reading sensitive data from the system.
NVD Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: iio: imu: kmx61: fix information leak in triggered buffer The 'buffer' local array is used to push data to user space from a triggered buffer, but it does not set…
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values for inactive channels, as it only uses iio_for_each_active_channel() to assign new values. Initialize the array to zero before using it to avoid pushing uninitialized information to userspace.
Deeper analysisAI
CVE-2024-57908 is an information disclosure vulnerability in the Linux kernel's Industrial I/O (IIO) subsystem, specifically the kmx61 inertial measurement unit (IMU) driver. The issue arises in the triggered buffer handling where a local 'buffer' array is used to push data to userspace. This array is not fully initialized, as the code only assigns values via iio_for_each_active_channel(), leaving values for inactive channels uninitialized. As a result, uninitialized kernel stack memory can be leaked to userspace. The vulnerability is rated with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.1 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H) and is associated with CWE-908 (Use of Uninitialized Resource).
A local attacker with low privileges can exploit this vulnerability by interacting with the kmx61 driver through the IIO interface, such as by setting up a triggered buffer and reading the output. Successful exploitation allows disclosure of sensitive uninitialized kernel memory to userspace, potentially exposing kernel internals that could aid in further attacks. The CVSS metrics indicate high confidentiality impact from the leak, with high availability impact possibly stemming from related mishandling, though the primary effect is the information disclosure.
Mitigation is provided through upstream Linux kernel patches available in stable releases, as documented in the referenced commits. These patches initialize the 'buffer' array to zero before use, ensuring that inactive channels do not leak uninitialized data. Security practitioners should apply the relevant stable kernel updates, such as those at https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0871eb8d700b33dd7fa86c80630d62ddaef58c2c and similar commits, to affected systems using the kmx61 driver.
Details
- CWE(s)