CVE-2024-27006 is a vulnerability identified in the Linux kernel's thermal management subsystem, specifically within the debugfs interface for thermal zones. The issue arises from a missing increment operation on the 'count' field within the 'trip_stats' structure in the function thermal_debug_tz_trip_up(). This 'count' field tracks how many times the temperature of a thermal zone has exceeded a defined trip point threshold. The vulnerability manifests in two main ways: first, when a trip point is crossed upwards for the first time, the count remains zero because the trip point has not yet been added to the trips_crossed[] array. This leads to a division by zero error during average temperature computation in thermal_debug_update_temp(), causing a kernel crash. Incrementing the count to one before this division prevents the crash. Second, for subsequent crossings of the same trip point, the count is not incremented, which results in inaccurate temperature statistics and potentially flawed thermal mitigation responses. The fix involves ensuring the count is incremented each time the trip point is crossed upwards, maintaining accurate tracking and preventing kernel panics. This vulnerability affects Linux kernel versions 6.8 and later, as indicated by the patch notes. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no CVSS score has been assigned yet.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2024-27006 primarily concerns system stability and reliability rather than direct confidentiality or integrity breaches. Linux is widely used across European enterprises, government agencies, and critical infrastructure, often powering servers, embedded systems, and IoT devices. A kernel crash induced by this vulnerability could lead to unexpected system reboots or downtime, disrupting services and operations. In environments where thermal management is critical—such as data centers, industrial control systems, or telecommunications infrastructure—this could degrade system performance or availability. Although this vulnerability does not directly expose data or allow privilege escalation, the resulting denial of service (DoS) condition could be exploited by attackers to cause operational disruptions. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate risk, but unpatched systems remain vulnerable to accidental or targeted triggering of the kernel crash. Given the reliance on Linux in many European sectors, the vulnerability could affect a broad range of systems, especially those running kernel versions 6.8 and above without the patch.

European organizations should prioritize updating their Linux kernel to versions that include the fix for CVE-2024-27006. This involves applying the latest stable kernel releases from trusted sources or vendor-provided security patches. For environments where immediate kernel upgrades are challenging, organizations should monitor system logs for thermal debugfs errors or kernel panics related to thermal trip points and consider disabling debugfs thermal interfaces if not required, as a temporary mitigation. Additionally, implementing robust system monitoring and automated reboot mechanisms can help minimize downtime caused by unexpected kernel crashes. Organizations should also review thermal management configurations and ensure proper hardware cooling to reduce the likelihood of frequent trip point crossings. Coordination with hardware vendors and Linux distribution maintainers is recommended to ensure timely patch deployment. Finally, security teams should maintain awareness of any emerging exploit reports or advisories related to this vulnerability.