CVE-2024-35786 is a vulnerability identified in the Linux kernel's Direct Rendering Manager (DRM) subsystem, specifically within the nouveau driver, which is an open-source driver for NVIDIA graphics cards. The flaw arises in the handling of mutex locks during ioctl calls related to buffer submission. When VM_BIND is enabled on the client side, the legacy submission ioctl is disabled and returns an error if used. However, the client’s mutex remains unlocked in this error scenario, leading to a stale locked mutex condition. This results in a deadlock situation during subsequent nouveau ioctl calls such as nouveau_drm_postclose. Essentially, the kernel driver fails to properly manage synchronization primitives under certain error conditions, causing the affected process or system components to hang indefinitely. This deadlock can impact system stability and availability, particularly for systems relying on the nouveau driver for GPU management. The vulnerability does not require user interaction or authentication to be triggered if the client attempts to use the legacy ioctl improperly, but it does depend on the presence of VM_BIND being enabled and the use of the nouveau driver. No known exploits are reported in the wild at this time, and no CVSS score has been assigned yet. The issue has been addressed in recent Linux kernel updates, and users are advised to apply patches promptly.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2024-35786 primarily concerns system availability and stability on Linux systems using the nouveau driver with VM_BIND enabled. Organizations relying on Linux servers or workstations with NVIDIA GPUs managed by nouveau could experience system hangs or deadlocks, potentially disrupting critical services, graphical workloads, or compute tasks. This could affect sectors such as research institutions, media production companies, and enterprises using Linux-based infrastructure for GPU-accelerated applications. While the vulnerability does not directly compromise confidentiality or integrity, the denial-of-service-like effect caused by deadlocks could lead to operational downtime and productivity loss. In environments where high availability is critical, such as financial services or industrial control systems, this could have cascading effects. However, the impact is limited to systems with the specific driver and configuration, reducing the overall attack surface. Since no active exploits are known, the immediate risk is moderate but could increase if exploitation techniques emerge.

To mitigate this vulnerability, European organizations should: 1) Identify Linux systems using the nouveau driver, especially those with VM_BIND enabled. 2) Apply the latest Linux kernel patches that address CVE-2024-35786 as soon as they become available from trusted Linux distributions or kernel maintainers. 3) Where possible, consider using the proprietary NVIDIA driver as an alternative if it meets organizational requirements and does not expose other vulnerabilities. 4) Implement monitoring for system hangs or deadlocks related to GPU operations to detect potential exploitation attempts or system instability early. 5) In environments where GPU usage is critical, perform thorough testing of kernel updates in staging environments to ensure stability before deployment. 6) Educate system administrators about the specific conditions triggering the deadlock to avoid misconfiguration or legacy ioctl usage that could inadvertently cause the issue. 7) Maintain regular backups and system snapshots to enable quick recovery in case of system hangs or crashes.