Data Race Vulnerability in Linux Kernel
Summary
GSD-2022-1005942: net: Fix a data-race around sysctl_tstamp_allow_data. Affects Kernel versions >= b245be1f4db1a0394e4b6eb66059814b46670ac3, < 5da0632c07d46aaaaf9533eb836b5c358e5abe37. No fix is published. How to fix ↓
Check if this vulnerability affects your application
Upload a manifest or SBOM and we'll show whether you're affected, plus every other risky package in the same scan.
No signup required · Results in about 60 seconds
Background
The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, responsible for managing system resources and providing an interface for applications to interact with the hardware. It is a critical piece of software that is constantly being developed and maintained by a large community of contributors. The vulnerability in question relates to a data race issue in the networking subsystem of the kernel, specifically around the handling of sysctl_tstamp_allow_data.
Vulnerability Detail
The data race vulnerability in the Linux Kernel allows for a race condition to occur when accessing the sysctl_tstamp_allow_data variable. This can lead to inconsistent or incorrect behavior, potentially resulting in security vulnerabilities or system instability. The vulnerability was introduced in version 4.0 of the kernel and has been present until version 5.4.212. The impact and attack plausibility of this vulnerability have not been proven yet.
How To Fix
No fixed version is published for this vulnerability.
The data race vulnerability has been fixed in Linux Kernel version 5.4.212 by commit 5da0632c07d46aaaaf9533eb836b5c358e5abe37. To fix the vulnerability, users are advised to update their kernel to the latest version available. This can be done by downloading the updated kernel source code from the official Linux Kernel repository (https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/) and compiling it according to the provided instructions.
Tip — Not sure whether your app is affected? Vulert can check the versions your app actually runs. Scan free →
Workaround
There is no specific workaround mentioned for this vulnerability.
Conclusion
The data race vulnerability in the Linux Kernel can lead to security vulnerabilities or system instability. It is important to update your kernel to the latest version to mitigate this vulnerability. For further support on vulnerability remediation, you can contact DevNack.com.
See every vulnerability recorded for Kernel →
FAQ
A data race vulnerability occurs when multiple threads or processes access shared data concurrently without proper synchronization. This can lead to unpredictable and incorrect behavior, potentially resulting in security vulnerabilities or system instability.
The exact exploitation scenario for this vulnerability is not known as the impact and attack plausibility have not been proven. However, in general, data race vulnerabilities can be exploited by carefully timing and coordinating the access to shared data in a way that leads to unintended consequences.
sysctl_tstamp_allow_data is a variable in the Linux Kernel's networking subsystem that controls the behavior of timestamping for network packets. It is used to determine whether or not to allow timestamping of certain types of network data.
To check if your system is affected by this vulnerability, you can use the Vulert Playground (https://vulert.com/scanner) without any signup. Simply upload your package-lock.json file, and Vulert will analyze it for any open-source vulnerabilities, including this data race vulnerability in the Linux Kernel.
For more information about this vulnerability, you can refer to the vulnerability database entry at https://github.com/cloudsecurityalliance/gsd-database/blob/main/2022/1005xxx/GSD-2022-1005942.json.
Related vulnerabilities
Recent vulnerabilities recorded for Kernel.
Follow Vulert in Google
Get more Vulert vulnerability and dependency-security updates in Google Search and AI results.