CVE-2024-35872

MEDIUM
Published May 19, 2024 Modified Sep 24, 2025

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/secretmem: fix GUP-fast succeeding on secretmem folios folio_is_secretmem() currently relies on secretmem folios being LRU folios, to save some cycles. However, folios might reside in a folio batch without the LRU flag set, or temporarily have their LRU flag cleared. Consequently, the LRU flag is unreliable for this purpose. In particular, this is the case when secretmem_fault() allocates a fresh page and calls filemap_add_folio()->folio_add_lru(). The folio might be added to the per-cpu folio batch and won't get the LRU flag set until the batch was drained using e.g., lru_add_drain(). Consequently, folio_is_secretmem() might not detect secretmem folios and GUP-fast can succeed in grabbing a secretmem folio, crashing the kernel when we would later try reading/writing to the folio, because the folio has been unmapped from the directmap. Fix it by removing that unreliable check.

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CVSS v3.1 Score

5.5
MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Affected Products

Vendor Product
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2024-35872? +
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/secretmem: fix GUP-fast succeeding on secretmem folios folio_is_secretmem() currently relies on secretmem folios being LRU folios, to save some cycles. However, folios might reside in a folio batch without the LRU flag set, or temporarily have their LRU flag cleared. Consequently, the LRU flag is unreliable for this purpose. In particular, this is the case when secretmem_fault() allocates a fresh page and calls filemap_add_folio()->folio_add_lru(). The folio might be added to the per-cpu folio batch and won't get the LRU flag set until the batch was drained using e.g., lru_add_drain(). Consequently, folio_is_secretmem() might not detect secretmem folios and GUP-fast can succeed in grabbing a secretmem folio, crashing the kernel when we would later try reading/writing to the folio, because the folio has been unmapped from the directmap. Fix it by removing that unreliable check. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.5 (MEDIUM).
How severe is CVE-2024-35872? +
CVE-2024-35872 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 5.5 out of 10, rated MEDIUM. This is a medium-severity vulnerability that should be remediated as part of regular maintenance.
What products are affected by CVE-2024-35872? +
CVE-2024-35872 affects products from linux, specifically: linux_kernel. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.
How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2024-35872? +
You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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