{"cve":"CVE-2024-50164","nvd":{"published":"2024-11-07T10:15:07.697","modified":"2026-10-15T01:19:09.790","status":"Modified","description":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nbpf: Fix overloading of MEM_UNINIT's meaning\n\nLonial reported an issue in the BPF verifier where check_mem_size_reg()\nhas the following code:\n\n    if (!tnum_is_const(reg->var_off))\n        /* For unprivileged variable accesses, disable raw\n         * mode so that the program is required to\n         * initialize all the memory that the helper could\n         * just partially fill up.\n         */\n         meta = NULL;\n\nThis means that writes are not checked when the register containing the\nsize of the passed buffer has not a fixed size. Through this bug, a BPF\nprogram can write to a map which is marked as read-only, for example,\n.rodata global maps.\n\nThe problem is that MEM_UNINIT's initial meaning that \"the passed buffer\nto the BPF helper does not need to be initialized\" which was added back\nin commit 435faee1aae9 (\"bpf, verifier: add ARG_PTR_TO_RAW_STACK type\")\ngot overloaded over time with \"the passed buffer is being written to\".\n\nThe problem however is that checks such as the above which were added later\nvia 06c1c049721a (\"bpf: allow helpers access to variable memory\") set meta\nto NULL in order force the user to always initialize the passed buffer to\nthe helper. Due to the current double meaning of MEM_UNINIT, this bypasses\nverifier write checks to the memory (not boundary checks though) and only\nassumes the latter memory is read instead.\n\nFix this by reverting MEM_UNINIT back to its original meaning, and having\nMEM_WRITE as an annotation to BPF helpers in order to then trigger the\nBPF verifier checks for writing to memory.\n\nSome notes: check_arg_pair_ok() ensures that for ARG_CONST_SIZE{,_OR_ZERO}\nwe can access fn->arg_type[arg - 1] since it must contain a preceding\nARG_PTR_TO_MEM. For check_mem_reg() the meta argument can be removed\naltogether since we do check both BPF_READ and BPF_WRITE. Same for the\nequivalent check_kfunc_mem_size_reg().","cvss_v4":null,"cvss_v3":{"version":"3.1","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H","score":7.1},"cwes":[],"references":["https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/43f4df339a4d375bedcad29a61ae6f0ee7a048f8","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/48068ccaea957469f1adf78dfd2c1c9a7e18f0fe","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/54bc31682660810af1bed7ca7a19f182df8d3df8","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8ea607330a39184f51737c6ae706db7fdca7628e","https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/03/msg00001.html"],"products":["linux:linux_kernel"],"source":"nvd","synced_at":"2026-10-19T21:57:07.693694550+00:00"},"epss":{"cve":"CVE-2024-50164","score":0.00214,"percentile":0.11645,"date":"2026-10-25"},"kev":null,"osv":[],"attribution":["This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.","EPSS scores: FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System, https://www.first.org/epss","Known exploited vulnerabilities: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","Package advisories: OSV (https://osv.dev), from the GitHub Advisory Database, PyPA, Go, RustSec and other ecosystem databases, under CC-BY 4.0 or CC0","CVE records: the CVE Program's CVE List (https://www.cve.org), under its terms of use (https://www.cve.org/Legal/TermsOfUse). CVE is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation; this product is not affiliated with the CVE Program."]}