NULL pointer dereference in Linux
CVE-2024-56549
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: cachefiles: Fix NULL pointer dereference in object->file At present, the object->file has the NULL pointer dereference problem in ondemand-mode. The root cause is that the allocated fd and object->file lifetime are inconsistent, and the user-space invocation to anon_fd uses object->file. Following is the process that triggers the issue: [write fd] [umount] cachefiles_ondemand_fd_write_iter fscache_cookie_state_machine cachefiles_withdraw_cookie if (!file) return -ENOBUFS cachefiles_clean_up_object cachefiles_unmark_inode_in_use fput(object->file) object->file = NULL // file NULL pointer dereference! __cachefiles_write(..., file, ...) Fix this issue by add an additional reference count to the object->file before write/llseek, and decrement after it finished.
EPSS: 0.002 (12.7th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
Affected products
- Linux — versions c8383054506c77b814489c09877b5db83fd4abf2, 5.19, 0
- Linux Linux_kernel
Weakness classification (CWE)
Public proof-of-concept exploits
References
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2024-56549?
- CVE-2024-56549 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under NULL Pointer Dereference. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2024-12-27.
- How severe is CVE-2024-56549?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.
- Is CVE-2024-56549 known to be exploited?
- 3 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.