Skip to main content

Boteraser | Website and Server Security Solutions

🛡️ CVE-2024-56770 — kernel

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

Description

net/sched: netem: account for backlog updates from child qdisc

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

net/sched: netem: account for backlog updates from child qdisc

In general, 'qlen' of any classful qdisc should keep track of the

number of packets that the qdisc itself and all of its children holds.

In case of netem, 'qlen' only accounts for the packets in its internal

tfifo. When netem is used with a child qdisc, the child qdisc can use

'qdisc_tree_reduce_backlog' to inform its parent, netem, about created

or dropped SKBs. This function updates 'qlen' and the backlog statistics

of netem, but netem does not account for changes made by a child qdisc.

'qlen' then indicates the wrong number of packets in the tfifo.

If a child qdisc creates new SKBs during enqueue and informs its parent

about this, netem's 'qlen' value is increased. When netem dequeues the

newly created SKBs from the child, the 'qlen' in netem is not updated.

If 'qlen' reaches the configured sch->limit, the enqueue function stops

working, even though the tfifo is not full.

Reproduce the bug:

Ensure that the sender machine has GSO enabled. Configure netem as root

qdisc and tbf as its child on the outgoing interface of the machine

as follows:

$ tc qdisc add dev <oif> root handle 1: netem delay 100ms limit 100

$ tc qdisc add dev <oif> parent 1:0 tbf rate 50Mbit burst 1542 latency 50ms

Send bulk TCP traffic out via this interface, e.g., by running an iPerf3

client on the machine. Check the qdisc statistics:

$ tc -s qdisc show dev <oif>

Statistics after 10s of iPerf3 TCP test before the fix (note that

netem's backlog > limit, netem stopped accepting packets):

qdisc netem 1: root refcnt 2 limit 1000 delay 100ms

Sent 2767766 bytes 1848 pkt (dropped 652, overlimits 0 requeues 0)

backlog 4294528236b 1155p requeues 0

qdisc tbf 10: parent 1:1 rate 50Mbit burst 1537b lat 50ms

Sent 2767766 bytes 1848 pkt (dropped 327, overlimits 7601 requeues 0)

backlog 0b 0p requeues 0

Statistics after the fix:

qdisc netem 1: root refcnt 2 limit 1000 delay 100ms

Sent 37766372 bytes 24974 pkt (dropped 9, overlimits 0 requeues 0)

backlog 0b 0p requeues 0

qdisc tbf 10: parent 1:1 rate 50Mbit burst 1537b lat 50ms

Sent 37766372 bytes 24974 pkt (dropped 327, overlimits 96017 requeues 0)

backlog 0b 0p requeues 0

tbf segments the GSO SKBs (tbf_segment) and updates the netem's 'qlen'.

The interface fully stops transferring packets and "locks". In this case,

the child qdisc and tfifo are empty, but 'qlen' indicates the tfifo is at

its limit and no more packets are accepted.

This patch adds a counter for the entries in the tfifo. Netem's 'qlen' is

only decreased when a packet is returned by its dequeue function, and not

during enqueuing into the child qdisc. External updates to 'qlen' are thus

accounted for and only the behavior of the backlog statistics changes. As

in other qdiscs, 'qlen' then keeps track of how many packets are held in

netem and all of its children. As before, sch->limit remains as the

maximum number of packets in the tfifo. The same applies to netem's

backlog statistics.

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-2024-56770 is recorded against 2 packages.

  • kernel (from 6.7.0 up to 6.12.6)
  • linux-kernel

Timeline and source

Published on 8 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-2024-56770 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 2025-01-08
Updated 2026-08-20
Modified 2026-08-12

Affected Packages

Software From version Fixed in
kernel 6.7.0 6.12.6
linux-kernel — —

References

Similar Threats

Vulnerability Monitoring

Track new vulnerabilities in kernel

CVE-2024-56770 is rated CVSS 5.5 Medium. BotEraser monitors your WordPress installation and notifies you when software you use appears in our vulnerability database.

Set Up Free Alerts →

No credit card required  ·  Results in minutes

ⓘ Data Notice: The information presented above has been compiled from publicly available internet sources. Boteraser aggregates this data solely for informational purposes and does not independently classify, evaluate, or endorse any findings about the vulnerabilities listed. The accuracy and completeness of this information is the sole responsibility of the original publishers. Boteraser and its operators accept no liability for any decisions made based on this data.

Browse related advisories

All advisoriesCVECVE 2024
✓