CVE-2024-50163
kernel: bpf: Make sure internal and UAPI bpf_redirect flags don't overlap
Severity
LowRed Hat Product Security
CVSS 3.1
Review impact separately from score.
Published · November 7, 2024
Updated · October 29, 2026
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
bpf: Make sure internal and UAPI bpf_redirect flags don't overlap
The bpf_redirect_info is shared between the SKB and XDP redirect paths, and the two paths use the same numeric flag values in the ri->flags field (specifically, BPF_F_BROADCAST == BPF_F_NEXTHOP). This means that if skb bpf_redirect_neigh() is used with a non-NULL params argument and, subsequently, an XDP redirect is performed using the same bpf_redirect_info struct, the XDP path will get confused and end up crashing, which syzbot managed to trigger.
With the stack-allocated bpf_redirect_info, the structure is no longer shared between the SKB and XDP paths, so the crash doesn't happen anymore. However, different code paths using identically-numbered flag values in the same struct field still seems like a bit of a mess, so this patch cleans that up by moving the flag definitions together and redefining the three flags in BPF_F_REDIRECT_INTERNAL to not overlap with the flags used for XDP. It also adds a BUILD_BUG_ON() check to make sure the overlap is not re-introduced by mistake.
Statement
The default Red Hat Enterprise Linux kernel prevents unprivileged users from being able to use eBPF by the kernel.unprivileged_bpf_disabled sysctl. This would require a privileged user with CAP_SYS_ADMIN or root to be able to abuse this flaw reducing its attack space.
For the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 to confirm the current state, inspect the sysctl with the command:
cat /proc/sys/kernel/unprivileged_bpf_disabled
The setting of 1 would mean that unprivileged users can not use eBPF, mitigating the flaw.
CVSS score applicability
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
No mitigation is specified in collected source.
CVSS / CWE
CVSS 3.1 · 4.4CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CWE-20 · Improper Input Validation