Bug 2521397 (CVE-2026-74671) - CVE-2026-74671 kernel: ima: fix out-of-bounds read in xattr_verify()
Summary: CVE-2026-74671 kernel: ima: fix out-of-bounds read in xattr_verify()
Keywords:
Status: NEW
Alias: CVE-2026-74671
Product: Security Response
Classification: Other
Component: vulnerability
Version: unspecified
Hardware: All
OS: Linux
medium
medium
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Product Security DevOps Team
QA Contact:
URL:
Whiteboard:
Depends On:
Blocks:
TreeView+ depends on / blocked
 
Reported: 2026-08-22 15:43 UTC by OSIDB Bzimport
Modified: 2026-08-24 10:57 UTC (History)
2 users (show)

Fixed In Version:
Clone Of:
Environment:
Last Closed:
Embargoed:


Attachments (Terms of Use)

Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-08-22 15:43:32 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ima: fix out-of-bounds read in xattr_verify()

The digest-length check in xattr_verify() mixes int and size_t:

	if (xattr_len - sizeof(xattr_value->type) - hash_start >=
			iint->ima_hash->length)

sizeof() yields size_t, so the usual arithmetic conversions promote
the whole left-hand side to unsigned 64-bit before the subtraction
runs. For a truncated xattr this underflows instead of going negative:
a 1-byte IMA_XATTR_DIGEST_NG xattr (xattr_len == 1, hash_start == 1)
turns "1 - 1 - 1" into SIZE_MAX, which is trivially >= ima_hash->length.
The check then passes and the following memcmp() reads
iint->ima_hash->length bytes starting past the end of the buffer
vfs_getxattr_alloc() allocated for it.

Nothing upstream clamps xattr_len back into a safe range first:
ima_get_hash_algo() only special-cases xattr_len < 2 to pick a default
algorithm, and evm_verifyxattr() returns INTEGRITY_UNKNOWN rather than
failing when no HMAC key is loaded, so a truncated security.ima value
reaches the length check as-is.

Rewrite the comparison so every operand stays a signed int and no
implicit conversion to size_t can occur.

Comment 1 Mauro Matteo Cascella 2026-08-24 10:52:06 UTC
Upstream advisory:
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2026082229-CVE-2026-74671-bdc4@gregkh/T


Note You need to log in before you can comment on or make changes to this bug.