CVE-2024-53167

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's parallel Network File System (pNFS) block layout driver. When unmounting a filesystem configured with a SCSI layout where the block device lookup previously failed to attach a device, the driver attempts to unregister an invalid block device. A local user can exploit this vulnerability to trigger a NULL pointer dereference, causing a kernel crash and resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).

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.

To mitigate this vulnerability, prevent the blocklayoutdriver kernel module from loading.

1. Add a configuration file to prevent the module from being loaded:

echo "install blocklayoutdriver /bin/true" > /etc/modprobe.d/disable-blocklayoutdriver.conf

2. If the module is currently loaded, reboot the system to ensure the change takes effect:

reboot

Warning: System reboot will interrupt active workloads, network connections, and running services.

Caveat: Disabling the blocklayoutdriver module prevents the use of pNFS SCSI or block layouts. NFS clients will fall back to standard NFS protocol operations, which may impact storage I/O performance in environments configured for pNFS block layouts.