CVE-2024-47674

mm: avoid leaving partial pfn mappings around in error case

Published Oct 15, 2024 CVSS 3.1 · 7.8 High EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

mm: avoid leaving partial pfn mappings around in error case

As Jann points out, PFN mappings are special, because unlike normal
memory mappings, there is no lifetime information associated with the
mapping - it is just a raw mapping of PFNs with no reference counting of
a 'struct page'.

That's all very much intentional, but it does mean that it's easy to
mess up the cleanup in case of errors. Yes, a failed mmap() will always
eventually clean up any partial mappings, but without any explicit
lifetime in the page table mapping itself, it's very easy to do the
error handling in the wrong order.

In particular, it's easy to mistakenly free the physical backing store
before the page tables are actually cleaned up and (temporarily) have
stale dangling PTE entries.

To make this situation less error-prone, just make sure that any partial
pfn mapping is torn down early, before any other error handling.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

Source ID Title
Debian DLA Debian DLA DLA-4008-1 linux-6.1 security update
Debian DLA Debian DLA DLA-4075-1 linux security update
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7154-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7155-1 Linux kernel (NVIDIA) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7156-1 Linux kernel (GKE) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7166-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7166-2 Linux kernel (AWS) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7166-3 Linux kernel (HWE) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7154-2 Linux kernel (HWE) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7166-4 Linux kernel (Xilinx ZynqMP) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7186-1 Linux kernel (Intel IoTG) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7186-2 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7194-1 Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7196-1 Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7293-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7294-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7294-2 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7294-3 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7294-4 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7295-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7393-1 Linux kernel (FIPS) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7401-1 Linux kernel (AWS) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7413-1 Linux kernel (IoT) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7539-1 Linux kernel (Raspberry Pi) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7540-1 Linux kernel (Raspberry Pi) vulnerabilities
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics epss

{'score': 0.00032}

epss

{'score': 0.00035}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-20
Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
Weaknesses CWE-459
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.11:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.11:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.11:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.11:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.11:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.11:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.11:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
Type Values Removed Values Added
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

threat_severity

Low

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm: avoid leaving partial pfn mappings around in error case As Jann points out, PFN mappings are special, because unlike normal memory mappings, there is no lifetime information associated with the mapping - it is just a raw mapping of PFNs with no reference counting of a 'struct page'. That's all very much intentional, but it does mean that it's easy to mess up the cleanup in case of errors. Yes, a failed mmap() will always eventually clean up any partial mappings, but without any explicit lifetime in the page table mapping itself, it's very easy to do the error handling in the wrong order. In particular, it's easy to mistakenly free the physical backing store before the page tables are actually cleaned up and (temporarily) have stale dangling PTE entries. To make this situation less error-prone, just make sure that any partial pfn mapping is torn down early, before any other error handling.
Title mm: avoid leaving partial pfn mappings around in error case
References
Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
Linux
Published
Updated
Aug 5, 2026, 11:39 AM
Reserved
Sep 30, 2024, 4:00 PM
Status
Modified
Published
Oct 15, 2024, 11:15 AM
Modified
Aug 4, 2026, 11:20 AM
Severity
Low
Public date
Oct 15, 2024, 12:00 AM