CVE-2024-42230: powerpc/pseries: Fix scv instruction crash with kexec

Severity: medium (CVSS 4.4 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2024-07-30 · updated 2026-06-17

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powerpc/pseries: Fix scv instruction crash with kexec kexec on pseries disables AIL (reloc_on_exc), required for scv instruction support, before other CPUs have been shut down. This means they can execute scv instructions after AIL is disabled, which causes an interrupt at an unexpected entry location that crashes the kernel. Change the kexec sequence to disable AIL after other CPUs have been brought down. As a refresher, the real-mode scv interrupt vector is 0x17000, and the fixed-location head code probably couldn't easily deal with implementing such high addresses so it was just decided not to support that interrupt at all.

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 5.9 before 6.1.98; from 6.2 through 6.6.39; from 6.7 before 6.9.9; 6.10-rc1, 6.10-rc2, 6.10-rc3, 6.10-rc4, 6.10-rc5, 6.10-rc6 — fixed in 6.1.98, 6.9.9

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 6.1.98, 6.9.9. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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