CVE-2024-53113: mm: fix NULL pointer dereference in alloc_pages_bulk_noprof

Severity: medium (CVSS 5.5 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: 2024-12-02 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-476

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm: fix NULL pointer dereference in alloc_pages_bulk_noprof We triggered a NULL pointer dereference for ac.preferred_zoneref->zone in alloc_pages_bulk_noprof() when the task is migrated between cpusets. When cpuset is enabled, in prepare_alloc_pages(), ac->nodemask may be &current->mems_allowed. when first_zones_zonelist() is called to find preferred_zoneref, the ac->nodemask may be modified concurrently if the task is migrated between different cpusets. Assuming we have 2 NUMA Node, when traversing Node1 in ac->zonelist, the nodemask is 2, and when traversing Node2 in ac->zonelist, the nodemask is 1. As a result, the ac->preferred_zoneref points to NULL zone. In alloc_pages_bulk_noprof(), for_each_zone_zonelist_nodemask() finds a allowable zone and calls zonelist_node_idx(ac.preferred_zoneref), leading to NULL pointer dereference. __alloc_pages_noprof() fixes this issue by checking NULL pointer in commit ea57485af8f4 ("mm, page_alloc: fix check for NULL preferred_zone") and commit df76cee6bbeb ("mm, page_alloc: remove redundant checks from alloc fastpath"). To fix it, check NULL pointer for preferred_zoneref->zone.

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 5.13 before 6.1.119; from 6.2 before 6.6.63; from 6.7 before 6.11.10; 6.12-rc1, 6.12-rc2, 6.12-rc3, 6.12-rc4, 6.12-rc5, 6.12-rc6 (+1) — fixed in 6.1.119, 6.11.10, 6.6.63

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 6.1.119, 6.11.10, 6.6.63. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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