CVE-2024-44976: linux kernel — Fix

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ata: pata_macio: Fix DMA table overflow Kolbjørn and Jonáš reported that their 32-bit PowerMacs were crashing in pata-macio since commit 09fe2bfa6b83 ("ata: pata_macio: Fix max_segment_size with PAGE_SIZE == 64K"). For example: kernel BUG at drivers/ata/pata_macio.c:544! Oops: Exception in kernel mode, sig: 5 [#1] BE PAGE_SIZE=4K MMU=Hash SMP NR_CPUS=2 DEBUG_PAGEALLOC PowerMac ... NIP pata_macio_qc_prep+0xf4/0x190 LR pata_macio_qc_prep+0xfc/0x190 Call Trace: 0xc1421660 (unreliable) ata_qc_issue+0x14c/0x2d4 __ata_scsi_queuecmd+0x200/0x53c ata_scsi_queuecmd+0x50/0xe0 scsi_queue_rq+0x788/0xb1c __blk_mq_issue_directly+0x58/0xf4 blk_mq_plug_issue_direct+0x8c/0x1b4 blk_mq_flush_plug_list.part.0+0x584/0x5e0 __blk_flush_plug+0xf8/0x194 __submit_bio+0x1b8/0x2e0 submit_bio_noacct_nocheck+0x230/0x304 btrfs_work_helper+0x200/0x338 process_one_work+0x1a8/0x338 worker_thread+0x364/0x4c0 kthread+0x100/0x104 start_kernel_thread+0x10/0x14 That commit increased max_segment_size to 64KB, with the justification that the SCSI core was already using that size when PAGE_SIZE == 64KB, and that there was existing logic to split over-sized requests. However with a sufficiently large request, the splitting logic causes each sg to be split into two commands in the DMA table, leading to overflow of the DMA table, triggering the BUG_ON(). With default settings the bug doesn't trigger, because the request size is limited by max_sectors_kb == 1280, however max_sectors_kb can be increased, and apparently some distros do that by default using udev rules. Fix the bug for 4KB kernels by reverting to the old max_segment_size. For 64KB kernels the sg_tablesize needs to be halved, to allow for the possibility that each sg will be split into two.

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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	Versions
linux	linux_kernel	6.10 — 6.10.7
linux	linux_kernel	All
linux	linux_kernel	All
linux	linux_kernel	All
linux	linux_kernel	All

References

Advisories & Patches

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/709e4c8f78e156ab332297bdd87527ec3da4e2d4 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/822c8020aebcf5804a143b891e34f29873fee5e2

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2024-44976? +

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ata: pata_macio: Fix DMA table overflow Kolbjørn and Jonáš reported that their 32-bit PowerMacs were crashing in pata-macio since commit 09fe2bfa6b83 ("ata: pata_macio: Fix max_segment_size with PAGE_SIZE == 64K"). For example: kernel BUG at drivers/ata/pata_macio.c:544! Oops: Exception in kernel mode, sig: 5 [#1] BE PAGE_SIZE=4K MMU=Hash SMP NR_CPUS=2 DEBUG_PAGEALLOC PowerMac ... NIP pata_macio_qc_prep+0xf4/0x190 LR pata_macio_qc_prep+0xfc/0x190 Call Trace: 0xc1421660 (unreliable) ata_qc_issue+0x14c/0x2d4 __ata_scsi_queuecmd+0x200/0x53c ata_scsi_queuecmd+0x50/0xe0 scsi_queue_rq+0x788/0xb1c __blk_mq_issue_directly+0x58/0xf4 blk_mq_plug_issue_direct+0x8c/0x1b4 blk_mq_flush_plug_list.part.0+0x584/0x5e0 __blk_flush_plug+0xf8/0x194 __submit_bio+0x1b8/0x2e0 submit_bio_noacct_nocheck+0x230/0x304 btrfs_work_helper+0x200/0x338 process_one_work+0x1a8/0x338 worker_thread+0x364/0x4c0 kthread+0x100/0x104 start_kernel_thread+0x10/0x14 That commit increased max_segment_size to 64KB, with the justification that the SCSI core was already using that size when PAGE_SIZE == 64KB, and that there was existing logic to split over-sized requests. However with a sufficiently large request, the splitting logic causes each sg to be split into two commands in the DMA table, leading to overflow of the DMA table, triggering the BUG_ON(). With default settings the bug doesn't trigger, because the request size is limited by max_sectors_kb == 1280, however max_sectors_kb can be increased, and apparently some distros do that by default using udev rules. Fix the bug for 4KB kernels by reverting to the old max_segment_size. For 64KB kernels the sg_tablesize needs to be halved, to allow for the possibility that each sg will be split into two. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.5 (MEDIUM).

How severe is CVE-2024-44976? +

CVE-2024-44976 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-2024-44976? +

CVE-2024-44976 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-2024-44976? +

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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CVE-2024-44976