CVE-2023-53718

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

ring-buffer: Do not swap cpu_buffer during resize process

When ring_buffer_swap_cpu was called during resize process, the cpu buffer was swapped in the middle, resulting in incorrect state. Continuing to run in the wrong state will result in oops.

This issue can be easily reproduced using the following two scripts: /tmp # cat test1.sh //#! /bin/sh for i in seq 0 100000 do echo 2000 > /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/buffer_size_kb sleep 0.5 echo 5000 > /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/buffer_size_kb sleep 0.5 done /tmp # cat test2.sh //#! /bin/sh for i in seq 0 100000 do echo irqsoff > /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/current_tracer sleep 1 echo nop > /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/current_tracer sleep 1 done /tmp # ./test1.sh & /tmp # ./test2.sh &

A typical oops log is as follows, sometimes with other different oops logs.

[ 231.711293] WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 9 at kernel/trace/ring_buffer.c:2026 rb_update_pages+0x378/0x3f8 [ 231.713375] Modules linked in: [ 231.714735] CPU: 0 PID: 9 Comm: kworker/0:1 Tainted: G W 6.5.0-rc1-00276-g20edcec23f92 #15 [ 231.716750] Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT) [ 231.718152] Workqueue: events update_pages_handler [ 231.719714] pstate: 60000005 (nZCv daif -PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) [ 231.721171] pc : rb_update_pages+0x378/0x3f8 [ 231.722212] lr : rb_update_pages+0x25c/0x3f8 [ 231.723248] sp : ffff800082b9bd50 [ 231.724169] x29: ffff800082b9bd50 x28: ffff8000825f7000 x27: 0000000000000000 [ 231.726102] x26: 0000000000000001 x25: fffffffffffff010 x24: 0000000000000ff0 [ 231.728122] x23: ffff0000c3a0b600 x22: ffff0000c3a0b5c0 x21: fffffffffffffe0a [ 231.730203] x20: ffff0000c3a0b600 x19: ffff0000c0102400 x18: 0000000000000000 [ 231.732329] x17: 0000000000000000 x16: 0000000000000000 x15: 0000ffffe7aa8510 [ 231.734212] x14: 0000000000000000 x13: 0000000000000000 x12: 0000000000000002 [ 231.736291] x11: ffff8000826998a8 x10: ffff800082b9baf0 x9 : ffff800081137558 [ 231.738195] x8 : fffffc00030e82c8 x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 : 0000000000000001 [ 231.740192] x5 : ffff0000ffbafe00 x4 : 0000000000000000 x3 : 0000000000000000 [ 231.742118] x2 : 00000000000006aa x1 : 0000000000000001 x0 : ffff0000c0007208 [ 231.744196] Call trace: [ 231.744892] rb_update_pages+0x378/0x3f8 [ 231.745893] update_pages_handler+0x1c/0x38 [ 231.746893] process_one_work+0x1f0/0x468 [ 231.747852] worker_thread+0x54/0x410 [ 231.748737] kthread+0x124/0x138 [ 231.749549] ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 [ 231.750434] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- [ 233.720486] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000000 [ 233.721696] Mem abort info: [ 233.721935] ESR = 0x0000000096000004 [ 233.722283] EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits [ 233.722596] SET = 0, FnV = 0 [ 233.722805] EA = 0, S1PTW = 0 [ 233.723026] FSC = 0x04: level 0 translation fault [ 233.723458] Data abort info: [ 233.723734] ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000004, ISS2 = 0x00000000 [ 233.724176] CM = 0, WnR = 0, TnD = 0, TagAccess = 0 [ 233.724589] GCS = 0, Overlay = 0, DirtyBit = 0, Xs = 0 [ 233.725075] user pgtable: 4k pages, 48-bit VAs, pgdp=0000000104943000 [ 233.725592] [0000000000000000] pgd=0000000000000000, p4d=0000000000000000 [ 233.726231] Internal error: Oops: 0000000096000004 [#1] PREEMPT SMP [ 233.726720] Modules linked in: [ 233.727007] CPU: 0 PID: 9 Comm: kworker/0:1 Tainted: G W 6.5.0-rc1-00276-g20edcec23f92 #15 [ 233.727777] Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT) [ 233.728225] Workqueue: events update_pages_handler [ 233.728655] pstate: 200000c5 (nzCv daIF -PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) [ 233.729054] pc : rb_update_pages+0x1a8/0x3f8 [ 233.729334] lr : rb_update_pages+0x154/0x3f8 [ 233.729592] sp : ffff800082b9bd50 [ 233.729792] x29: ffff800082b9bd50 x28: ffff8000825f7000 x27: 00000000 ---truncated---

A LOW impact flaw was found in the Linux kernel tracing ring buffer implementation. When ring_buffer_swap_cpu() was called during a ring buffer resize process, the per-CPU buffer could be swapped in the middle of the resize, leaving the ring buffer in an incorrect state; continuing to run in that state resulted in a kernel oops, such as a NULL pointer dereference in rb_update_pages(). Triggering the flaw requires privileged local access, since it involves repeatedly resizing the tracing buffer (for example via /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/buffer_size_kb) while switching tracers, operations that require root privileges, and the impact is limited to system availability. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, 8, and 9 (kernel and kernel-rt) and Red Hat In-Vehicle OS 1 are affected, with the fix deferred for those streams given the low impact and the privileged access required to trigger the issue; the residual risk is a local denial of service caused by a privileged user crashing the kernel. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 and 10 are not affected because the vulnerable code is not present in those streams. Red Hat rates this flaw MODERATE (CVSS 4.4, requiring high privileges, availability impact only), which differs from the upstream CVEORG rating of IMPORTANT (CVSS 7.8), because successful exploitation requires root privileges and does not affect confidentiality or integrity.

The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.

Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options do not meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base, or stability.