Skip to main content

Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')

CVE-2024-41088

Severity Medium
Score 5.5/10

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: can: mcp251xfd: fix infinite loop when xmit fails When the mcp251xfd_start_xmit() function fails, the driver stops processing messages, and the interrupt routine does not return, running indefinitely even after killing the running application. Error messages: [ 441.298819] mcp251xfd spi2.0 can0: ERROR in mcp251xfd_start_xmit: -16 [ 441.306498] mcp251xfd spi2.0 can0: Transmit Event FIFO buffer not empty. (seq=0x000017c7, tef_tail=0x000017cf, tef_head=0x000017d0, tx_head=0x000017d3). ... and repeat forever. The issue can be triggered when multiple devices share the same SPI interface. And there is concurrent access to the bus. The problem occurs because tx_ring->head increments even if mcp251xfd_start_xmit() fails. Consequently, the driver skips one TX package while still expecting a response in mcp251xfd_handle_tefif_one(). Resolve the issue by starting a workqueue to write the tx obj synchronously if err = -EBUSY. In case of another error, decrement tx_ring->head, remove skb from the echo stack, and drop the message. [mkl: use more imperative wording in patch description]

  • LOW
  • LOCAL
  • NONE
  • UNCHANGED
  • NONE
  • LOW
  • NONE
  • HIGH

CWE-835 - Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition

Loops with multiple exits and flags detract from the quality of an application. They tend to make control structures difficult to understand, and introduce the risk of non-termination and other structural problems. The vulnerability “loop with unreachable exit condition” enables attackers to exploit this flaw, leading to denial of service.

References

Advisory Timeline

  • Published