{"cve":"CVE-2024-55916","nvd":{"published":"2025-01-11T13:15:28.353","modified":"2026-06-17T08:11:26.560","status":"Modified","description":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nDrivers: hv: util: Avoid accessing a ringbuffer not initialized yet\n\nIf the KVP (or VSS) daemon starts before the VMBus channel's ringbuffer is\nfully initialized, we can hit the panic below:\n\nhv_utils: Registering HyperV Utility Driver\nhv_vmbus: registering driver hv_utils\n...\nBUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000\nCPU: 44 UID: 0 PID: 2552 Comm: hv_kvp_daemon Tainted: G E 6.11.0-rc3+ #1\nRIP: 0010:hv_pkt_iter_first+0x12/0xd0\nCall Trace:\n...\n vmbus_recvpacket\n hv_kvp_onchannelcallback\n vmbus_on_event\n tasklet_action_common\n tasklet_action\n handle_softirqs\n irq_exit_rcu\n sysvec_hyperv_stimer0\n </IRQ>\n <TASK>\n asm_sysvec_hyperv_stimer0\n...\n kvp_register_done\n hvt_op_read\n vfs_read\n ksys_read\n __x64_sys_read\n\nThis can happen because the KVP/VSS channel callback can be invoked\neven before the channel is fully opened:\n1) as soon as hv_kvp_init() -> hvutil_transport_init() creates\n/dev/vmbus/hv_kvp, the kvp daemon can open the device file immediately and\nregister itself to the driver by writing a message KVP_OP_REGISTER1 to the\nfile (which is handled by kvp_on_msg() ->kvp_handle_handshake()) and\nreading the file for the driver's response, which is handled by\nhvt_op_read(), which calls hvt->on_read(), i.e. kvp_register_done().\n\n2) the problem with kvp_register_done() is that it can cause the\nchannel callback to be called even before the channel is fully opened,\nand when the channel callback is starting to run, util_probe()->\nvmbus_open() may have not initialized the ringbuffer yet, so the\ncallback can hit the panic of NULL pointer dereference.\n\nTo reproduce the panic consistently, we can add a \"ssleep(10)\" for KVP in\n__vmbus_open(), just before the first hv_ringbuffer_init(), and then we\nunload and reload the driver hv_utils, and run the daemon manually within\nthe 10 seconds.\n\nFix the panic by reordering the steps in util_probe() so the char dev\nentry used by the KVP or VSS daemon is not created until after\nvmbus_open() has completed. This reordering prevents the race condition\nfrom happening.","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:N/A:H","score":5.5},"cwes":["CWE-476"],"references":["https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/042253c57be901bfd19f15b68267442b70f510d5","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/07a756a49f4b4290b49ea46e089cbe6f79ff8d26","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3dd7a30c6d7f90afcf19e9b072f572ba524d7ec6","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/718fe694a334be9d1a89eed22602369ac18d6583","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/89fcec5e466b3ac9b376e0d621c71effa1a7983f"],"products":["linux:linux_kernel"],"source":"nvd","synced_at":"2026-10-19T21:58:20.756570362+00:00"},"epss":{"cve":"CVE-2024-55916","score":0.00225,"percentile":0.13264,"date":"2026-10-31"},"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."]}