CVE-2024-40913: cachefiles: defer exposing anon_fd until after copy_to_user() succeeds

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2024-40913 is a high (CVSS 7.8) Use After Free vulnerability in linux. EPSS estimates a 0.29% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 21.3% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 12-07-2024
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 11-05-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: cachefiles: defer exposing anon_fd until after copy_to_user() succeeds After installing the anonymous fd, we can now see it in userland and close it. However, at this point we may not have gotten the reference count of the cache, but we will put it during colse fd, so this may cause a cache UAF. So grab the cache reference count before fd_install(). In addition, by kernel convention, fd is taken over by the user land after fd_install(), and the kernel should not call close_fd() after that, i.e., it should call fd_install() after everything is ready, thus fd_install() is called after copy_to_user() succeeds.

• CWE-416Use After FreeThe product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.