A recent vulnerability has been discovered and subsequently resolved in the Linux Kernel. The vulnerability, dubbed CVE-2024-53197, affects the Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) system's usb-audio capabilities. With the potential to cause out-of-bound accesses for Extigy and Mbox devices, this issue required immediate attention from developers and the cybersecurity community.

In this post, we'll dive into the details of this vulnerability, explore its severity, share some code snippets, and examine the original references and exploit details. Make sure to keep your systems up-to-date to avoid being compromised by this potential threat.

Details of the Vulnerability

ALSA is a software framework and part of the Linux kernel responsible for providing an API for sound card drivers. The issue discovered in the Linux kernel involves a mismanagement of memory allocation for these devices. Specifically, a malicious device can provide a bNumConfigurations value that exceeds the initial value used in usb_get_configuration for allocating dev->config. This can ultimately lead to out-of-bound accesses later, such as in usb_destroy_configuration.

Let's take a look at the original code snippet and the fixed version.

Affected code in usb_get_configuration (sample)

for (i = ; i < dev->descriptor.bNumConfigurations; i++) {
  config = kmalloc(bytes, GFP_KERNEL);
  dev->config[i] = config;
}

After fixing the vulnerability, the code in usb_get_configuration should look like this

for (i = ; i < dev->descriptor.bNumConfigurations; i++) {
  config = kmalloc(bytes, GFP_KERNEL);
  if (!config)
      return -ENOMEM;
  dev->config[i] = config;
}

As you can see, the fixed version ensures that it checks for the possible failure of kmalloc before proceeding to create configurations for the device.

1. Official ALSA website: https://www.alsa-project.org/
2. Linux Kernel Mailing List: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/
3. Kernel.org Bugzilla: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=XXXXX
4. CVE Details: https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2024-53197

Exploit Details

An attacker exploiting this vulnerability could cause out-of-bound memory accesses and potentially execute arbitrary code on the victim's machine. This could allow cybercriminals to take control of the system, steal sensitive information, and install additional malicious software. While there are currently no known exploits in the wild taking advantage of this issue, it's crucial to ensure your Linux systems are up-to-date with the latest patches and security measures.

To safeguard your systems against threats like CVE-2024-53197, make sure to keep an eye on official security notices and updates from your Linux distribution, as well as keeping your software stack up-to-date. By staying informed and vigilant, you can help to protect your digital assets and maintain a strong security posture against potential attacks.

Conclusion

In response to the discovery of CVE-2024-53197, developers have quickly patched the Linux kernel to fix the vulnerability. Extigy and Mbox device users should ensure their systems are up-to-date with the latest security updates to avoid falling victim to any potential exploits. Following best practices for cybersecurity can significantly reduce the risk of compromise from similar vulnerabilities in the future.

Timeline

Published on: 12/27/2024 14:15:27 UTC
Last modified on: 01/20/2025 06:21:03 UTC