Junglewise Threat Intelligence

CVE-2024-49890: Linux Kernel NULL pointer dereference in AMD GPU power management

CVE-2024-49890 · Severity: medium · CVSS 5.5 · Published 2024-10-21

Technologies: Linux Kernel. Vendors: Linux.

Executive brief

A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's AMD graphics driver could allow a local user to cause a system crash. The issue occurs when the driver fails to properly verify firmware information before attempting to use it. This primarily impacts system availability, potentially leading to a denial-of-service on affected machines using AMD hardware.

Technical details

A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability exists in the AMD GPU driver (drm/amd/pm) within the Linux kernel. The root cause is located in the `init_overdrive_limits` function in `drivers/gpu/drm/amd/pm/powerplay/hwmgr/processpptables.c`, where the return value of `smu_atom_get_data_table` (specifically for the FirmwareInfo table) is not checked for NULL before being dereferenced. A local attacker with sufficient privileges to trigger power management table processing could exploit this to cause a kernel panic (Denial of Service). The issue has been resolved by adding a `PP_ASSERT_WITH_CODE` check to ensure `fw_info` is valid before use. Fixes are available in various stable kernel branches including 5.10.227, 5.15.168, 6.1.113, 6.6.55, 6.10.14, and 6.11.3.

Affected products

  • Linux Linux Kernel up to (excluding) 5.10.227, 5.11 to (excluding) 5.15.168, 5.16 to (excluding) 6.1.113, 6.2 to (excluding) 6.6.55, 6.7 to (excluding) 6.10.14, 6.11 to (excluding) 6.11.3

Timeline

  • 2024-10-21: disclosed
  • 2024-10-21: advisory
  • 2024-08-20: patched: Mainline patch date

References

Related threats