CVE-2024-50290

Description

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's media subsystem, specifically within the cx24116 driver. This vulnerability occurs when reading Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) registers, where a failure can result in a negative value being returned. This negative value then causes an integer underflow during SNR calculations, which could lead to unexpected system behavior or a denial of service.

Mitigation

To mitigate this vulnerability, prevent the `cx24116` kernel module from loading if the associated hardware is not in use. Create a file named `/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-cx24116.conf` with the following content:

blacklist cx24116

After creating the file, regenerate the initramfs to ensure the blacklist is applied during boot:

For Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 and 9:

bash
sudo dracut -f -v

For Fedora:

bash
sudo dracut -f -v

A system reboot is required for the changes to take effect. This mitigation may impact functionality if the `cx24116` media device is actively used.

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details

Info alert: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 HatNVDcve.org
Base Score6.75.55.5
Attack VectorLocalLocalLocal
Attack ComplexityLowLowLow
Privileges RequiredHighLowLow
User InteractionNoneNoneNone
ScopeUnchangedUnchangedUnchanged
ConfidentialityHighNoneNone
Integrity ImpactHighNoneNone
Availability ImpactHighHighHigh

Vector

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

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

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

Understanding the Weakness (CWE)

Availability

Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU); DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory); DoS: Instability

This weakness will generally lead to undefined behavior and therefore crashes. In the case of overflows involving loop index variables, the likelihood of infinite loops is also high.

Integrity

Technical Impact: Modify Memory

If the value in question is important to data (as opposed to flow), simple data corruption has occurred. Also, if the wrap around results in other conditions such as buffer overflows, further memory corruption may occur.

Confidentiality,Availability,Access Control

Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands; Bypass Protection Mechanism

This weakness can sometimes trigger buffer overflows which can be used to execute arbitrary code. This is usually outside the scope of a program's implicit security policy.

Frequently Asked Questions

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