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UBUNTU-CVE-2023-52489 Moderate

UBUNTU-CVE-2023-52489

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/sparsemem: fix race in accessing memory_section->usage The below race is observed on a PFN which falls into the device memory region with the system memory configuration where PFN's are such that [ZONE_NORMAL ZONE_DEVICE ZONE_NORMAL]. Since normal zone start and end pfn contains the device memory PFN's as well, the compaction triggered will try on the device memory PFN's too though they end up in NOP(because pfn_to_online_page() returns NULL for ZONE_DEVICE memory sections). When from other core, the section mappings are being removed for the ZONE_DEVICE region, that the PFN in question belongs to, on which compaction is currently being operated is resulting into the kernel crash with CONFIG_SPASEMEM_VMEMAP enabled. The crash logs can be seen at [1]. compact_zone() memunmap_pages ------------- --------------- __pageblock_pfn_to_page ...... (a)pfn_valid(): valid_section()//return true (b)__remove_pages()-> sparse_remove_section()-> section_deactivate(): [Free the array ms->usage and set ms->usage = NULL] pfn_section_valid() [Access ms->usage which is NULL] NOTE: From the above it can be said that the race is reduced to between the pfn_valid()/pfn_section_valid() and the section deactivate with SPASEMEM_VMEMAP enabled. The commit b943f045a9af("mm/sparse: fix kernel crash with pfn_section_valid check") tried to address the same problem by clearing the SECTION_HAS_MEM_MAP with the expectation of valid_section() returns false thus ms->usage is not accessed. Fix this issue by the below steps: a) Clear SECTION_HAS_MEM_MAP before freeing the ->usage. b) RCU protected read side critical section will either return NULL when SECTION_HAS_MEM_MAP is cleared or can successfully access ->usage. c) Free the ->usage with kfree_rcu() and set ms->usage = NULL. No attempt will be made to access ->usage after this as the SECTION_HAS_MEM_MAP is cleared thus valid_section() return false. Thanks to David/Pavan for their inputs on this patch. [1] https://lore.kernel.org/linux-mm/[email protected]/ On Snapdragon SoC, with the mentioned memory configuration of PFN's as [ZONE_NORMAL ZONE_DEVICE ZONE_NORMAL], we are able to see bunch of issues daily while testing on a device farm. For this particular issue below is the log. Though the below log is not directly pointing to the pfn_section_valid(){ ms->usage;}, when we loaded this dump on T32 lauterbach tool, it is pointing. [ 540.578056] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000000 [ 540.578068] Mem abort info: [ 540.578070] ESR = 0x0000000096000005 [ 540.578073] EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits [ 540.578077] SET = 0, FnV = 0 [ 540.578080] EA = 0, S1PTW = 0 [ 540.578082] FSC = 0x05: level 1 translation fault [ 540.578085] Data abort info: [ 540.578086] ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000005 [ 540.578088] CM = 0, WnR = 0 [ 540.579431] pstate: 82400005 (Nzcv daif +PAN -UAO +TCO -DIT -SSBSBTYPE=--) [ 540.579436] pc : __pageblock_pfn_to_page+0x6c/0x14c [ 540.579454] lr : compact_zone+0x994/0x1058 [ 540.579460] sp : ffffffc03579b510 [ 540.579463] x29: ffffffc03579b510 x28: 0000000000235800 x27:000000000000000c [ 540.579470] x26: 0000000000235c00 x25: 0000000000000068 x24:ffffffc03579b640 [ 540.579477] x23: 0000000000000001 x22: ffffffc03579b660 x21:0000000000000000 [ 540.579483] x20: 0000000000235bff x19: ffffffdebf7e3940 x18:ffffffdebf66d140 [ 540.579489] x17: 00000000739ba063 x16: 00000000739ba063 x15:00000000009f4bff [ 540.579495] x14: 0000008000000000 x13: 0000000000000000 x12:0000000000000001 [ 540.579501] x11: 0000000000000000 x10: 0000000000000000 x9 :ffffff897d2cd440 [ 540.579507] x8 : 0000000000000000 x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 :ffffffc03579b5b4 [ 540.579512] x5 : 0000000000027f25 x4 : ffffffc03579b5b8 x3 :0000000000000 ---truncated---

Exploit probability Not scored
Published March 11, 2024
Required by Not available
Last source change August 19, 2026

02 / AFFECTED SOFTWARE

Affected packages

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-starfive-6.5

7 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-iot

53 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-azure

116 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-intel-iotg-5.15

29 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-ibm

41 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oem

50 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-aws-5.0

6 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.11

12 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oem-6.5

16 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-raspi2

6 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux

50 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-azure-fde-5.15

57 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gkeop

36 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:20.04:LTS linux-fips

91 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure

47 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15

36 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-riscv-6.5

7 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gke

43 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS linux

191 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-5.19

7 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-raspi

44 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-6.5

9 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:18.04:LTS linux-azure-fips

85 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.14

35 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-fips

3 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-tegra

14 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gke-5.15

18 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fips

5 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-oracle

118 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fde

30 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.4

120 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.13

13 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.8

4 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS linux-kvm

121 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:16.04:LTS linux-hwe-edge

23 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-gcp

124 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:18.04:LTS linux-gcp-fips

1 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.8

21 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fde-6.8

9 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.13

16 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2

10 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:20.04:LTS linux-aws-fips

76 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.0

7 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv

12 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS linux-oracle

111 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.15

34 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.11

12 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-6.5

10 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-intel-5.13

7 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-azure-5.4

104 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.13

12 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-raspi

105 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.11

12 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS linux-aws

120 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-tegra-igx

10 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-hwe-edge

10 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gke-5.4

37 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oracle-6.5

9 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fde-6.2

10 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:Realtime:22.04:LTS linux-intel-iot-realtime

23 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:20.04:LTS linux-aws-fips

1 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.10

26 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.13

13 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS linux-aws

144 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-xilinx-zynqmp

4 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:18.04:LTS linux-fips

1 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.6

29 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.4

111 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.3

13 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency

47 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:18.04:LTS linux-azure-fips

1 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-raspi-5.4

100 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws

45 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:22.04:LTS linux-aws-fips

7 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gke-4.15

33 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-riscv

23 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-aws-5.3

10 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS linux

188 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Nvidia-BlueField:24.04:LTS linux-bluefield

11 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.11

12 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.8

7 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-6.2

12 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS linux-gcp

138 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:16.04:LTS linux-fips

2 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.15

36 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia

28 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-kvm

132 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oracle

44 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS linux-lts-xenial

165 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux

154 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19

10 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oem-5.17

26 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-preview:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fips

1 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-6.2

13 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-aws

139 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-ibm-5.4

78 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oem-6.0

16 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-kvm

47 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.15

37 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS linux-aws-hwe

116 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fde-5.19

3 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux

132 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-gcp-4.15

93 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:20.04:LTS linux-azure-fips

1 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-preview:22.04:LTS linux-aws-fips

2 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gke

51 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-azure-4.15

92 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:Realtime:24.04:LTS linux-raspi-realtime

1 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.13

12 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-intel-iotg

34 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oem-6.1

27 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Nvidia-BlueField:22.04:LTS linux-bluefield

20 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-oracle

121 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:18.04:LTS linux-aws-fips

1 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:20.04:LTS linux-fips

1 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:18.04:LTS linux-fips

98 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.19

8 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:22.04:LTS linux-fips

8 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.8

5 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.19

8 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-fips

1 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-6.2

10 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5

9 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.4

110 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.11

13 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:20.04:LTS linux-azure-fips

72 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-starfive-5.19

7 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS linux-azure

140 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:18.04:LTS linux-aws-fips

94 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.15

39 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.8

10 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15

12 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.13

12 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-aws-5.4

108 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-bluefield

80 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-xilinx-zynqmp

56 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure

44 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure-5.3

16 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-starfive-6.2

3 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.11

13 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-fde

26 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gkeop-5.15

33 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gkeop-5.4

37 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-6.5

14 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gcp

38 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS linux-hwe

167 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.15

37 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.3

9 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.15

36 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.19

11 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp

44 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-azure-fde

8 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.2

7 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-ibm-5.15

18 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:16.04:LTS linux-fips

97 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS linux-azure

121 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.8

4 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-preview:22.04:LTS linux-fips

1 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-preview:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-fips

1 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:Realtime:22.04:LTS linux-realtime

42 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-6.5

10 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-hwe

43 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-fips

77 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-kvm

119 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-5.19

10 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-allwinner-5.19

8 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-ibm

88 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-6.2

14 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure-edge

4 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gkeop

78 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.5

7 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-realtime

1 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:18.04:LTS linux-gcp-fips

69 explicit affected versions

Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-aws

123 explicit affected versions

03 / CONNECTIONS

Connected vulnerabilities

04 / EVIDENCE

Source records

Open Source Vulnerabilities UBUNTU-CVE-2023-52489

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/sparsemem: fix race in accessing memory_section->usage The below race is observed on a PFN which falls into the device memory region with the system memory configuration where PFN's are such that [ZONE_NORMAL ZONE_DEVICE ZONE_NORMAL]. Since normal zone start and end pfn contains the device memory PFN's as well, the compaction triggered will try on the device memory PFN's too though they end up in NOP(because pfn_to_online_page() returns NULL for ZONE_DEVICE memory sections). When from other core, the section mappings are being removed for the ZONE_DEVICE region, that the PFN in question belongs to, on which compaction is currently being operated is resulting into the kernel crash with CONFIG_SPASEMEM_VMEMAP enabled. The crash logs can be seen at [1]. compact_zone() memunmap_pages ------------- --------------- __pageblock_pfn_to_page ...... (a)pfn_valid(): valid_section()//return true (b)__remove_pages()-> sparse_remove_section()-> section_deactivate(): [Free the array ms->usage and set ms->usage = NULL] pfn_section_valid() [Access ms->usage which is NULL] NOTE: From the above it can be said that the race is reduced to between the pfn_valid()/pfn_section_valid() and the section deactivate with SPASEMEM_VMEMAP enabled. The commit b943f045a9af("mm/sparse: fix kernel crash with pfn_section_valid check") tried to address the same problem by clearing the SECTION_HAS_MEM_MAP with the expectation of valid_section() returns false thus ms->usage is not accessed. Fix this issue by the below steps: a) Clear SECTION_HAS_MEM_MAP before freeing the ->usage. b) RCU protected read side critical section will either return NULL when SECTION_HAS_MEM_MAP is cleared or can successfully access ->usage. c) Free the ->usage with kfree_rcu() and set ms->usage = NULL. No attempt will be made to access ->usage after this as the SECTION_HAS_MEM_MAP is cleared thus valid_section() return false. Thanks to David/Pavan for their inputs on this patch. [1] https://lore.kernel.org/linux-mm/[email protected]/ On Snapdragon SoC, with the mentioned memory configuration of PFN's as [ZONE_NORMAL ZONE_DEVICE ZONE_NORMAL], we are able to see bunch of issues daily while testing on a device farm. For this particular issue below is the log. Though the below log is not directly pointing to the pfn_section_valid(){ ms->usage;}, when we loaded this dump on T32 lauterbach tool, it is pointing. [ 540.578056] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000000 [ 540.578068] Mem abort info: [ 540.578070] ESR = 0x0000000096000005 [ 540.578073] EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits [ 540.578077] SET = 0, FnV = 0 [ 540.578080] EA = 0, S1PTW = 0 [ 540.578082] FSC = 0x05: level 1 translation fault [ 540.578085] Data abort info: [ 540.578086] ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000005 [ 540.578088] CM = 0, WnR = 0 [ 540.579431] pstate: 82400005 (Nzcv daif +PAN -UAO +TCO -DIT -SSBSBTYPE=--) [ 540.579436] pc : __pageblock_pfn_to_page+0x6c/0x14c [ 540.579454] lr : compact_zone+0x994/0x1058 [ 540.579460] sp : ffffffc03579b510 [ 540.579463] x29: ffffffc03579b510 x28: 0000000000235800 x27:000000000000000c [ 540.579470] x26: 0000000000235c00 x25: 0000000000000068 x24:ffffffc03579b640 [ 540.579477] x23: 0000000000000001 x22: ffffffc03579b660 x21:0000000000000000 [ 540.579483] x20: 0000000000235bff x19: ffffffdebf7e3940 x18:ffffffdebf66d140 [ 540.579489] x17: 00000000739ba063 x16: 00000000739ba063 x15:00000000009f4bff [ 540.579495] x14: 0000008000000000 x13: 0000000000000000 x12:0000000000000001 [ 540.579501] x11: 0000000000000000 x10: 0000000000000000 x9 :ffffff897d2cd440 [ 540.579507] x8 : 0000000000000000 x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 :ffffffc03579b5b4 [ 540.579512] x5 : 0000000000027f25 x4 : ffffffc03579b5b8 x3 :0000000000000 ---truncated---

View original source

05 / REFERENCES

Further evidence