CVE-2022-48910

MEDIUM

Linux Kernel Memory Leak in IPv6 Multicast Group Handling

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: ipv6: ensure we call ipv6_mc_down() at most once There are two reasons for addrconf_notify() to be called with NETDEV_DOWN: either the network device is actually going down, or IPv6 was disabled on the interface. If either of them stays down while the other is toggled, we repeatedly call the code for NETDEV_DOWN, including ipv6_mc_down(), while never calling the corresponding ipv6_mc_up() in between. This will cause a new entry in idev->mc_tomb to be allocated for each multicast group the interface is subscribed to, which in turn leaks one struct ifmcaddr6 per nontrivial multicast group the interface is subscribed to. The following reproducer will leak at least $n objects: ip addr add ff2e::4242/32 dev eth0 autojoin sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.eth0.disable_ipv6=1 for i in $(seq 1 $n); do ip link set up eth0; ip link set down eth0 done Joining groups with IPV6_ADD_MEMBERSHIP (unprivileged) or setting the sysctl net.ipv6.conf.eth0.forwarding to 1 (=> subscribing to ff02::2) can also be used to create a nontrivial idev->mc_list, which will the leak objects with the right up-down-sequence. Based on both sources for NETDEV_DOWN events the interface IPv6 state should be considered: - not ready if the network interface is not ready OR IPv6 is disabled for it - ready if the network interface is ready AND IPv6 is enabled for it The functions ipv6_mc_up() and ipv6_down() should only be run when this state changes. Implement this by remembering when the IPv6 state is ready, and only run ipv6_mc_down() if it actually changed from ready to not ready. The other direction (not ready -> ready) already works correctly, as: - the interface notification triggered codepath for NETDEV_UP / NETDEV_CHANGE returns early if ipv6 is disabled, and - the disable_ipv6=0 triggered codepath skips fully initializing the interface as long as addrconf_link_ready(dev) returns false - calling ipv6_mc_up() repeatedly does not leak anything

Scores

CVSS v3 5.5
EPSS 0.0021
EPSS Percentile 11.3%
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

Status published
Products (27)
linux/Kernel 3.18.0 - 4.9.313linux
linux/Kernel 4.10.0 - 4.14.278linux
linux/Kernel 4.15.0 - 4.19.323linux
linux/Kernel 4.20.0 - 5.4.193linux
linux/Kernel 5.11.0 - 5.15.27linux
linux/Kernel 5.16.0 - 5.16.13linux
linux/Kernel 5.5.0 - 5.10.104linux
Linux/Linux < 3.18
Linux/Linux 3.18
Linux/Linux 3ce62a84d53cd3d3cc5377bbf339e9b08ddf9c36 - 24888915364cfa410de62d8abb5df95c3b67455d
... and 17 more
Published Aug 22, 2024
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026