CVE-2024-57930: tracing: Have process_string() also allow arrays

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: 2025-01-21 · updated 2026-06-17

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tracing: Have process_string() also allow arrays In order to catch a common bug where a TRACE_EVENT() TP_fast_assign() assigns an address of an allocated string to the ring buffer and then references it in TP_printk(), which can be executed hours later when the string is free, the function test_event_printk() runs on all events as they are registered to make sure there's no unwanted dereferencing. It calls process_string() to handle cases in TP_printk() format that has "%s". It returns whether or not the string is safe. But it can have some false positives. For instance, xe_bo_move() has: TP_printk("move_lacks_source:%s, migrate object %p [size %zu] from %s to %s device_id:%s", __entry->move_lacks_source ? "yes" : "no", __entry->bo, __entry->size, xe_mem_type_to_name[__entry->old_placement], xe_mem_type_to_name[__entry->new_placement], __get_str(device_id)) Where the "%s" references into xe_mem_type_to_name[]. This is an array of pointers that should be safe for the event to access. Instead of flagging this as a bad reference, if a reference points to an array, where the record field is the index, consider it safe.

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 6.1.122 before 6.1.124; from 6.6.68 before 6.6.70; from 6.12.7 before 6.12.9; 6.13-rc4, 6.13-rc5 — fixed in 6.1.124, 6.12.9, 6.6.70

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 6.1.124, 6.12.9, 6.6.70. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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