Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
serial: core: fix transmit-buffer reset and memleak
Commit 761ed4a94582 ("tty: serial_core: convert uart_close to use
tty_port_close") converted serial core to use tty_port_close() but
failed to notice that the transmit buffer still needs to be freed on
final close.
Not freeing the transmit buffer means that the buffer is no longer
cleared on next open so that any ioctl() waiting for the buffer to drain
might wait indefinitely (e.g. on termios changes) or that stale data can
end up being transmitted in case tx is restarted.
Furthermore, the buffer of any port that has been opened would leak on
driver unbind.
Note that the port lock is held when clearing the buffer pointer due to
the ldisc race worked around by commit a5ba1d95e46e ("uart: fix race
between uart_put_char() and uart_shutdown()").
Also note that the tty-port shutdown() callback is not called for
console ports so it is not strictly necessary to free the buffer page
after releasing the lock (cf. d72402145ace ("tty/serial: do not free
trasnmit buffer page under port lock")).
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 4.9 | 4.9.292 |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | linux | 5.15.15-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | linux | 5.15.15-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | linux | 5.15.15-1 | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-raspi-realtime | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-riscv +22 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | linux | 5.4.0-100.113 | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | linux-aws | 5.4.0-1066.69 | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | linux-azure | 5.4.0-1070.73 | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | linux-bluefield | 5.4.0-1028.31 | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | linux-gcp | 5.4.0-1065.69 | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | linux-gke +26 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | linux-gkeop | 5.4.0-1034.35 | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | linux-ibm | 5.4.0-1015.16 | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | linux-kvm | 5.4.0-1056.58 | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | linux-oracle | 5.4.0-1064.68 | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | linux-raspi | 5.4.0-1053.60 | — |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | linux | 4.15.0-169.177 | — |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | linux-aws | 4.15.0-1121.129 | — |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | linux-aws-5.4 | 5.4.0-1066.69~18.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | linux-azure-4.15 | 4.15.0-1131.144 | — |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | linux-azure-5.4 | 5.4.0-1070.73~18.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | linux-gcp +14 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | linux-gcp-4.15 | 4.15.0-1116.130 | — |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | linux-gcp-5.4 | 5.4.0-1065.69~18.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | linux-hwe-5.4 | 5.4.0-100.113~18.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | linux-ibm-5.4 | 5.4.0-1015.16~18.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | linux-kvm | 4.15.0-1107.109 | — |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | linux-oracle | 4.15.0-1087.95 | — |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | linux-oracle-5.4 | 5.4.0-1064.68~18.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | linux-raspi-5.4 | 5.4.0-1053.60~18.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | linux-hwe-edge | No fix yet | — |
Show 6 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu Pro FIPS 20.04 LTS | linux-fips +3 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro FIPS 18.04 LTS | linux-fips +3 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 20.04 LTS | linux-aws-fips | 5.4.0-1069.73+fips2 | — |
| Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 20.04 LTS | linux-azure-fips | 5.4.0-1073.76+fips1 | — |
| Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 20.04 LTS | linux-fips | 5.4.0-1043.49 | — |
| Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 20.04 LTS | linux-gcp-fips | 5.4.0-1067.71~20.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 18.04 LTS | linux-aws-fips | 4.15.0-2061.63 | — |
| Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 18.04 LTS | linux-azure-fips | 4.15.0-2043.47 | — |
| Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 18.04 LTS | linux-fips | 4.15.0-1078.87 | — |
| Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 18.04 LTS | linux-gcp-fips | 4.15.0-2026.28 | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS | linux-aws-hwe | 4.15.0-1120.128~16.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS | linux-azure | 4.15.0-1131.144~16.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS | linux-gcp | 4.15.0-1116.130~16.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS | linux-hwe | 4.15.0-169.177~16.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS | linux-oracle | 4.15.0-1087.95~16.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 14.04 LTS | linux-azure | 4.15.0-1131.144~14.04.1 | — |
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHEL 8 | kernel-rt +12 | 4.18.0-553.22.1.rt7.363.el8_10 | RHSA-2024:7001 |
| RHEL 8 | perf +26 | 4.18.0-553.22.1.el8_10 | RHSA-2024:7000 |
Show 1 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHEL 9.4 EUS | bpftool | 7.3.0-427.81.1.el9_4 | RHSA-2025:13135 |
| RHEL 9.4 EUS | rv +64 | 5.14.0-427.81.1.el9_4 | RHSA-2025:13135 |
AlmaLinux
Errata ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| AlmaLinux 8 | kernel-rt +11 | 4.18.0-553.22.1.rt7.363.el8_10 | ALSA-2024:7001 |
| AlmaLinux 8 | perf +24 | 4.18.0-553.22.1.el8_10 | ALSA-2024:7000 |
Rocky Linux
Errata ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rocky Linux 8 | kernel | 4.18.0-553.22.1.el8_10 | RLSA-2024:7000 |
| Rocky Linux 8 | kernel-rt | 4.18.0-553.22.1.rt7.363.el8_10 | RLSA-2024:7001 |
Amazon Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Linux 2 | kernel-livepatch-4.14.262-200.489 | 1.0-0.amzn2 | ALAS2-2022-1749 |
| Amazon Linux 2 | perf +8 | 4.14.262-200.489.amzn2 | ALAS2-2022-1749 |
Oracle Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oracle Linux 8 | perf +19 | 4.18.0-553.22.1.el8_10 | ELSA-2024-7000 |
Advisories 10
- RHSA-2025:13135 Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Nov 13, 2026
- RHSA-2024:7000 Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Nov 13, 2026
- RHSA-2024:7001 Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel-rt security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Nov 13, 2026
- ALSA-2024:7001 Important: kernel-rt security update AlmaLinux Security Advisories · Oct 29, 2026
- ALSA-2024:7000 Important: kernel security update AlmaLinux Security Advisories · Oct 29, 2026
- WID-SEC-2024-1235 Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen ermöglichen Denial of Service und unspezifische Angriffe BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Feb 15, 2026
- RLSA-2024:7001 Important: kernel-rt security update Rocky Linux Security Advisories · Feb 5, 2026
- ALAS2-2022-1749 Important: kernel security update (Amazon Linux 2) Amazon Linux Security Center (ALAS) · May 19, 2025
- RLSA-2024:7000 Important: kernel security update Rocky Linux Security Advisories · May 7, 2025
- ELSA-2024-7000 Important: kernel security update (Oracle Linux 8) Oracle Linux Security Advisories (ELSA) · Sep 24, 2024
References
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/011f6c92b5bf6e1fbfdedc8b5232f64c1c493206
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e74d9663fd57640fc3394abb5c76fa95b9cc2f2e
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1179b168fa3f3a6aae3bd140000455a0e58457db
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c5da8aa441053958594f94254592bb41264bdfbf
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e1722acf4f0d4d67b60f57e08ce16f8b66cd4b8f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/64e491c1634b73d3bddc081d08620bdc92ab2c12
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/00de977f9e0aa9760d9a79d1e41ff780f74e3424