CVE-2020-36789

MEDIUM

Linux Kernel - NULL Pointer Dereference in CAN Echo SKB Handling

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: can: dev: can_get_echo_skb(): prevent call to kfree_skb() in hard IRQ context If a driver calls can_get_echo_skb() during a hardware IRQ (which is often, but not always, the case), the 'WARN_ON(in_irq)' in net/core/skbuff.c#skb_release_head_state() might be triggered, under network congestion circumstances, together with the potential risk of a NULL pointer dereference. The root cause of this issue is the call to kfree_skb() instead of dev_kfree_skb_irq() in net/core/dev.c#enqueue_to_backlog(). This patch prevents the skb to be freed within the call to netif_rx() by incrementing its reference count with skb_get(). The skb is finally freed by one of the in-irq-context safe functions: dev_consume_skb_any() or dev_kfree_skb_any(). The "any" version is used because some drivers might call can_get_echo_skb() in a normal context. The reason for this issue to occur is that initially, in the core network stack, loopback skb were not supposed to be received in hardware IRQ context. The CAN stack is an exeption. This bug was previously reported back in 2017 in [1] but the proposed patch never got accepted. While [1] directly modifies net/core/dev.c, we try to propose here a smoother modification local to CAN network stack (the assumption behind is that only CAN devices are affected by this issue). [1] http://lore.kernel.org/r/[email protected]

Scores

CVSS v3 5.5
EPSS 0.0015
EPSS Percentile 5.0%
Attack Vector LOCAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CISA SSVC

Vulnrichment
Exploitation none
Automatable no
Technical Impact partial

Details

CWE
CWE-476
Status published
Products (18)
Linux/Linux < 2.6.31
Linux/Linux 2.6.31
Linux/Linux 39549eef3587f1c1e8c65c88a2400d10fd30ea17 - 2283f79b22684d2812e5c76fc2280aae00390365
Linux/Linux 39549eef3587f1c1e8c65c88a2400d10fd30ea17 - 248b71ce92d4f3a574b2537f9838f48e892618f4
Linux/Linux 39549eef3587f1c1e8c65c88a2400d10fd30ea17 - 3a922a85701939624484e7f2fd07d32beed00d25
Linux/Linux 39549eef3587f1c1e8c65c88a2400d10fd30ea17 - 451187b20431924d13fcfecc500d7cd2d9951bac
Linux/Linux 39549eef3587f1c1e8c65c88a2400d10fd30ea17 - 7e4cf2ec0ca236c3e5f904239cec6efe1f3baf22
Linux/Linux 39549eef3587f1c1e8c65c88a2400d10fd30ea17 - 87530b557affe01c764de32dbeb58cdf47234574
Linux/Linux 39549eef3587f1c1e8c65c88a2400d10fd30ea17 - ab46748bf98864f9c3f5559060bf8caf9df2b41e
Linux/Linux 4.14.207 - 4.14.*
... and 8 more
Published Apr 17, 2025
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026