CVE-2024-43898

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DescriptionStatementAdditional informationCVSS Score DetailsWeakness (CWE)FAQ

Description

[REJECTED CVE] A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability has been identified in the Linux Kernel's ext4 filesystem. The issue occurs during concurrent write operations with inline data, where an ext4_force_shutdown is triggered due to inconsistencies like "block bitmap and bg descriptor inconsistent." This shutdown disrupts inline data handling, failing to restore the EXT4_STATE_MAY_INLINE_DATA flag. As a result, subsequent operations, such as in ext4_da_write_end, may attempt to dereference an unset page folio private pointer, leading to potential kernel crashes.

[REJECTED CVE] A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability has been identified in the Linux Kernel's ext4 filesystem. The issue occurs during concurrent write operations with inline data, where an ext4_force_shutdown is triggered due to inconsistencies like "block bitmap and bg descriptor inconsistent." This shutdown disrupts inline data handling, failing to restore the EXT4_STATE_MAY_INLINE_DATA flag. As a result, subsequent operations, such as in ext4_da_write_end, may attempt to dereference an unset page folio private pointer, leading to potential kernel crashes.

Statement

This CVE has been rejected upstream: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2024091044-REJECTED-8d12@gregkh/T/ Red Hat has also evaluated this issue and determined that it does not meet the criteria to be classified as a security vulnerability. This assessment is based on the issue not posing a significant security risk, being a result of misconfiguration or usage error, or falling outside the scope of security considerations. As such, this CVE has been marked as "Rejected" in alignment with Red Hat's vulnerability management policies. If you have additional information or concerns regarding this determination, please contact Red Hat Product Security for further clarification.

This CVE has been rejected upstream: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2024091044-REJECTED-8d12@gregkh/T/

Red Hat has also evaluated this issue and determined that it does not meet the criteria to be classified as a security vulnerability. This assessment is based on the issue not posing a significant security risk, being a result of misconfiguration or usage error, or falling outside the scope of security considerations.

As such, this CVE has been marked as "Rejected" in alignment with Red Hat's vulnerability management policies.

If you have additional information or concerns regarding this determination, please contact Red Hat Product Security for further clarification.

Additional information

  • Bugzilla 2307871: kernel: ext4: sanity check for NULL pointer after ext4_force_shutdown
  • CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference
  • FAQ: Frequently asked questions about CVE-2024-43898

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details

Important note

CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).

The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.

CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
Red HatNVD

CVSS v3 Base Score

0

5.5

Attack Vector

Local

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Low

Privileges Required

Low

Low

User Interaction

None

None

Scope

Unchanged

Unchanged

Confidentiality Impact

None

None

Integrity Impact

None

None

Availability Impact

None

High

CVSS v3 Vector

Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:N

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Red Hat's CVSS v3 score or Impact different from other vendors?

For open source software shipped by multiple vendors, the CVSS base scores may vary for each vendor's version depending on the version they ship, how they ship it, the platform, and even how the software is compiled. This makes scoring of vulnerabilities difficult for third-party vulnerability databases such as NVD that only provide a single CVSS base score for each vulnerability. Red Hat scores reflect how a vulnerability affects our products specifically.

For more information, see https://access.redhat.com/solutions/762393.

My product is listed as "Under investigation" or "Affected", when will Red Hat release a fix for this vulnerability?

  • "Under investigation" doesn't necessarily mean that the product is affected by this vulnerability. It only means that our Analysis Team is still working on determining whether the product is affected and how it is affected.
  • The term "Affected" means that our Analysis team has determined that this product, such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 or OpenShift Container Platform 4, is affected by this vulnerability and a fix may be released to address this issue in the near future. This includes all minor releases of this product unless noted otherwise in the Statement text.

What can I do if my product is listed as "Will not fix"?

A "will not fix" status means that a fix for an affected product version is not planned or not possible due to complexity, which may create additional risk.

Available options depend mostly on the Impact of the vulnerability and the current Life Cycle phase of your product. Overall, you have the following options:
  • Upgrade to a supported product version that includes a fix for this vulnerability (recommended).
  • Apply a mitigation (if one exists).
  • Open a support case to request a prioritization of releasing a fix for this vulnerability.

What can I do if my product is listed as "Fix deferred"?

A deferred status means that a fix for an affected product version is not guaranteed due to higher-priority development work.

Available options depend mostly on the Impact of the vulnerability and the current Life Cycle phase of your product. Overall, you have the following options:
  • Apply a mitigation (if one exists).
  • Open a support case to request a prioritization of releasing a fix for this vulnerability.
  • Red Hat Engineering focuses on addressing high-priority issues based on their complexity or limited lifecycle support. Therefore, lower-priority issues will not receive immediate fixes.

What is a mitigation?

A mitigation is an action that can be taken to reduce the impact of a security vulnerability, without deploying any fixes.

I have a Red Hat product but it is not in the above list, is it affected?

The listed products were found to include one or more of the components that this vulnerability affects. These products underwent a thorough evaluation to determine their affectedness by this vulnerability. Note that layered products (such as container-based offerings) that consume affected components from any of the products listed in this table may be affected and are not represented.

Why is my security scanner reporting my product as vulnerable to this vulnerability even though my product version is fixed or not affected?

In order to maintain code stability and compatibility, Red Hat usually does not rebase packages to entirely new versions. Instead, we backport fixes and new features to an older version of the package we distribute. This can result in some security scanners that only consider the package version to report the package as vulnerable. To avoid this, we suggest that you use an approved vulnerability scanner from our Red Hat Vulnerability Scanner Certification program.

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