CVE-2024-56540
📋 TL;DR
A race condition vulnerability in the Linux kernel's Intel Versatile Processing Unit (VPU) accelerator driver could cause kernel crashes due to null pointer dereferences. This affects systems using Intel VPU hardware with vulnerable kernel versions. The issue occurs during device initialization or resume operations when recovery mechanisms are incorrectly triggered.
💻 Affected Systems
- Linux kernel with Intel VPU (Versatile Processing Unit) driver
📦 What is this software?
Linux Kernel by Linux
The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...
Learn more about Linux Kernel →Linux Kernel by Linux
The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...
Learn more about Linux Kernel →⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Kernel panic leading to system crash and denial of service, potentially requiring physical reboot.
Likely Case
System instability or crashes during device initialization or resume from sleep states.
If Mitigated
Proper error handling prevents crashes but may cause VPU device initialization failures.
🎯 Exploit Status
Requires triggering specific race conditions during device probe/resume operations.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Kernel versions containing commits 362ef76020ea, 5eaa49741119, or cac822772c4d
Vendor Advisory: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/362ef76020ea6219a4df4ac5b738672b59527239
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Update Linux kernel to version containing the fix commits. 2. Reboot system to load patched kernel. 3. Verify ivpu driver loads without errors.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable ivpu driver
linuxPrevent loading of vulnerable driver module
echo 'blacklist ivpu' >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-ivpu.conf
rmmod ivpu
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Avoid system suspend/resume cycles on affected hardware
- Monitor kernel logs for ivpu-related errors and restart services if crashes occur
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if ivpu module is loaded: lsmod | grep ivpu AND check kernel version against patched versionsCheck Version:
uname -rVerify Fix Applied:
Verify kernel version includes fix commits and ivpu driver loads without errors during probe/resume📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Kernel panic messages
- ivpu driver error messages during probe/resume
- null pointer dereference in kernel logs
Network Indicators:
- None - local vulnerability only
SIEM Query:
source="kernel" AND ("ivpu" OR "VPU" OR "null pointer")