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🛡️ CVE-2024-55916 — kernel

🟡 CVSS 5.5 — Medium ✅ No Known Exploit NVD
5.5
CVSS Score
0 Low4 Medium7 High9 Critical10

Description

Drivers: hv: util: Avoid accessing a ringbuffer not initialized yet

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

Drivers: hv: util: Avoid accessing a ringbuffer not initialized yet

If the KVP (or VSS) daemon starts before the VMBus channel's ringbuffer is

fully initialized, we can hit the panic below:

hv_utils: Registering HyperV Utility Driver

hv_vmbus: registering driver hv_utils

...

BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000

CPU: 44 UID: 0 PID: 2552 Comm: hv_kvp_daemon Tainted: G E 6.11.0-rc3+ #1

RIP: 0010:hv_pkt_iter_first+0x12/0xd0

Call Trace:

...

vmbus_recvpacket

hv_kvp_onchannelcallback

vmbus_on_event

tasklet_action_common

tasklet_action

handle_softirqs

irq_exit_rcu

sysvec_hyperv_stimer0

</IRQ>

<TASK>

asm_sysvec_hyperv_stimer0

...

kvp_register_done

hvt_op_read

vfs_read

ksys_read

__x64_sys_read

This can happen because the KVP/VSS channel callback can be invoked

even before the channel is fully opened:

1) as soon as hv_kvp_init() -> hvutil_transport_init() creates

/dev/vmbus/hv_kvp, the kvp daemon can open the device file immediately and

register itself to the driver by writing a message KVP_OP_REGISTER1 to the

file (which is handled by kvp_on_msg() ->kvp_handle_handshake()) and

reading the file for the driver's response, which is handled by

hvt_op_read(), which calls hvt->on_read(), i.e. kvp_register_done().

2) the problem with kvp_register_done() is that it can cause the

channel callback to be called even before the channel is fully opened,

and when the channel callback is starting to run, util_probe()->

vmbus_open() may have not initialized the ringbuffer yet, so the

callback can hit the panic of NULL pointer dereference.

To reproduce the panic consistently, we can add a "ssleep(10)" for KVP in

__vmbus_open(), just before the first hv_ringbuffer_init(), and then we

unload and reload the driver hv_utils, and run the daemon manually within

the 10 seconds.

Fix the panic by reordering the steps in util_probe() so the char dev

entry used by the KVP or VSS daemon is not created until after

vmbus_open() has completed. This reordering prevents the race condition

from happening.

How this vulnerability can be exploited

This issue can be reached with local access to the system, attack complexity is low, an attacker needs low-level privileges on the target. No user interaction is required. The scope is unchanged, so the impact stays within the vulnerable component. Rated impact: confidentiality none, integrity none, availability high.

CVSS metrics in full

The score comes from this vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

  • Attack vector: Local — a local account, shell or session on the host is needed.
  • Attack complexity: Low — the attack works reliably, with no preparation.
  • Privileges required: Low — an ordinary user account is enough.
  • User interaction: None — nobody has to be tricked into anything.
  • Scope: Unchanged — the damage stays inside the vulnerable component.
  • Confidentiality impact: None.
  • Integrity impact: None.
  • Availability impact: High — total loss, or loss the attacker controls.

Affected software

CVE-2024-55916 is recorded against 2 packages.

  • kernel (from 6.7.0 up to 6.12.7)
  • linux-kernel

Timeline and source

Published on 11 January 2025 and last revised on 12 August 2026. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. A vendor advisory or fix has been published. Record sourced from NVD.

References

git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
lists.debian.org (Web)
lists.debian.org (Web)
github.com (Advisory)
nvd.nist.gov (Advisory)
git.kernel.org (Package)

Other advisories for this package

kernel has other advisories on record. If you are patching this one, these are worth checking on the same host:

CVE-2024-55916 on other distributions

Each distribution ships its own build and its own fixed version. Pick the one you run:

Details

Severity Medium
CVSS Score 5.5
CVSS Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CWE N/A
Public Exploit ✅ No
Source NVD
Published 2025-01-11
Updated 2026-08-20
Modified 2026-08-12

Affected Packages

Software From version Fixed in
kernel 6.7.0 6.12.7
linux-kernel — —

References

Similar Threats

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