Kernel panic via hw_desc array overrun
Published Jul 12, 2024 · Updated Aug 5, 2026
Array overrun in the dw-axi-dmac driver in Linux allows local users to cause a kernel panic through multi-segment DMA descriptors. The axi_desc_put() cleanup path uses the channel-wide descs_allocated count to index a descriptor-specific hw_desc array, so three buffers of three segments exceed that array. Reaching the flaw requires local access to a system using the affected DMA controller and a transfer layout that triggers the mismatched count; the bounded consequence is a kernel crash.
Summary
What happened
Array overrun in the dw-axi-dmac driver in Linux allows local users to cause a kernel panic through multi-segment DMA descriptors. The axi_desc_put() cleanup path uses the channel-wide descs_allocated count to index a descriptor-specific hw_desc array, so three buffers of three segments exceed that array. Reaching the flaw requires local access to a system using the affected DMA controller and a transfer layout that triggers the mismatched count; the bounded consequence is a kernel crash.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-40970
- Published
- Jul 12, 2024
- Updated
- Aug 5, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jul 12, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 5, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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- Affected versionversion=5.12
- Affected versionversion=ef6fb2d6f1abd56cc067c694253ea362159b5ac3 <333e11bf47fa8d477db90e2900b1ed3c9ae9b697
- Affected versionversion=ef6fb2d6f1abd56cc067c694253ea362159b5ac3 <7c3bb96a20cd8db3b8824b2ff08b6cde4505c7e5
- Affected versionversion=ef6fb2d6f1abd56cc067c694253ea362159b5ac3 <9004784e8d68bcd1ac1376407ba296fa28f04dbe
- Affected versionversion=ef6fb2d6f1abd56cc067c694253ea362159b5ac3 <dd42570018f5962c10f215ad9c21274ed5d3541e
- Affected versionversion=ef6fb2d6f1abd56cc067c694253ea362159b5ac3 <e151ae1ee065cf4b8ce4394ddb9d9c8df6370c66
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What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
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Technologies
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