In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
APEI/GHES: ensure that won't go past CPER allocated record
The logic at ghes_new() prevents allocating too large records, by checking if they're bigger than GHES_ESTATUS_MAX_SIZE (currently, 64KB). Yet, the allocation is done with the actual number of pages from the CPER bios table location, which can be smaller.
Yet, a bad firmware could send data with a different size, which might be bigger than the allocated memory, causing an OOPS:
Unable to handle kernel paging request at virtual address fff00000f9b40000
Mem abort info:
ESR = 0x0000000096000007
EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits
SET = 0, FnV = 0
EA = 0, S1PTW = 0
FSC = 0x07: level 3 translation fault
Data abort info:
ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000007, ISS2 = 0x00000000
CM = 0, WnR = 0, TnD = 0, TagAccess = 0
GCS = 0, Overlay = 0, DirtyBit = 0, Xs = 0
swapper pgtable: 4k pages, 52-bit VAs, pgdp=000000008ba16000
[fff00000f9b40000] pgd=180000013ffff403, p4d=180000013fffe403, pud=180000013f85b403, pmd=180000013f68d403, pte=0000000000000000
Internal error: Oops: 0000000096000007 [#1] SMP
Modules linked in:
CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 303 Comm: kworker/0:1 Not tainted 6.19.0-rc1-00002-gda407d200220 #34 PREEMPT
Hardware name: QEMU QEMU Virtual Machine, BIOS unknown 02/02/2022
Workqueue: kacpi_notify acpi_os_execute_deferred
pstate: 214020c5 (nzCv daIF +PAN -UAO -TCO +DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--)
pc : hex_dump_to_buffer+0x30c/0x4a0
lr : hex_dump_to_buffer+0x328/0x4a0
sp : ffff800080e13880
x29: ffff800080e13880 x28: ffffac9aba86f6a8 x27: 0000000000000083
x26: fff00000f9b3fffc x25: 0000000000000004 x24: 0000000000000004
x23: ffff800080e13905 x22: 0000000000000010 x21: 0000000000000083
x20: 0000000000000001 x19: 0000000000000008 x18: 0000000000000010
x17: 0000000000000001 x16: 00000007c7f20fec x15: 0000000000000020
x14: 0000000000000008 x13: 0000000000081020 x12: 0000000000000008
x11: ffff800080e13905 x10: ffff800080e13988 x9 : 0000000000000000
x8 : 0000000000000000 x7 : 0000000000000001 x6 : 0000000000000020
x5 : 0000000000000030 x4 : 00000000fffffffe x3 : 0000000000000000
x2 : ffffac9aba78c1c8 x1 : ffffac9aba76d0a8 x0 : 0000000000000008
Call trace:
hex_dump_to_buffer+0x30c/0x4a0 (P)
print_hex_dump+0xac/0x170
cper_estatus_print_section+0x90c/0x968
cper_estatus_print+0xf0/0x158
__ghes_print_estatus+0xa0/0x148
ghes_proc+0x1bc/0x220
ghes_notify_hed+0x5c/0xb8
notifier_call_chain+0x78/0x148
blocking_notifier_call_chain+0x4c/0x80
acpi_hed_notify+0x28/0x40
acpi_ev_notify_dispatch+0x50/0x80
acpi_os_execute_deferred+0x24/0x48
process_one_work+0x15c/0x3b0
worker_thread+0x2d0/0x400
kthread+0x148/0x228
ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20
Code: 6b14033f 540001ad a94707e2 f100029f (b8747b44)
---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---
Prevent that by taking the actual allocated are into account when checking for CPER length.
[ rjw: Subject tweaks ]
| Software | From | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| linux / linux_kernel | 2.6.35 | 5.10.252 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 5.11 | 5.15.202 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 5.16 | 6.1.165 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.2 | 6.6.128 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.7 | 6.12.75 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.13 | 6.18.16 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.19 | 6.19.6 |
A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.
CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.
A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.
Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.
Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.
SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.