CVE-2024-50090 is a medium-severity vulnerability identified in the Linux kernel's Direct Rendering Manager (DRM) subsystem, specifically affecting the Intel Xe graphics driver (xe). The flaw arises from an integer overflow in the Open Analytics (oa) batch buffer handling code. The function xe_bb_create_job() appends a MI_BATCH_BUFFER_END command to the batch buffer by default. This behavior is safe if the batch buffer is used only once. However, the oa component reuses the batch buffer for the same metric multiple times, appending MI_BATCH_BUFFER_END on each call without checking if it already exists. This leads to an overflow condition, triggering an assertion failure in the kernel logs and potentially causing a denial of service (DoS) due to kernel panic or system instability. The vulnerability is rooted in improper bounds checking (CWE-120: Buffer Copy without Checking Size of Input) and affects systems running Intel Xe2 graphics platforms, including Lunar Lake subplatforms and related media and graphics components. The fix involves adding a check to ensure MI_BATCH_BUFFER_END is appended only once per batch buffer, preventing overflow. The vulnerability requires local privileges (AV:L), low attack complexity (AC:L), and low privileges (PR:L), but no user interaction (UI:N). It impacts availability (A:H) but not confidentiality or integrity. No known exploits are reported in the wild as of now.

For European organizations, this vulnerability primarily poses a risk of local denial of service on Linux systems using affected Intel Xe graphics drivers. Systems running workloads that rely on the DRM subsystem for graphics or media processing could experience kernel crashes or instability, impacting availability of critical services, especially in environments using Linux for workstations, servers, or embedded systems with Intel Xe graphics. While the vulnerability does not expose data confidentiality or integrity directly, disruption of services could affect operational continuity in sectors such as finance, manufacturing, research, and public services. Organizations with Linux-based infrastructure that utilize Intel Xe graphics hardware, including cloud providers and enterprises running containerized or virtualized workloads with GPU passthrough, could be impacted. The requirement for local privileges limits remote exploitation, but insider threats or compromised user accounts could trigger the issue. Given the medium CVSS score and absence of known exploits, the immediate risk is moderate but should be addressed proactively to maintain system stability and security compliance.

1. Apply the official Linux kernel patch that includes the fix for CVE-2024-50090 as soon as it becomes available in your distribution's kernel updates. 2. For environments where immediate patching is not feasible, restrict access to systems with affected Intel Xe graphics to trusted users only, minimizing the risk of local exploitation. 3. Monitor kernel logs for the specific assertion failure message related to batch buffer overflow to detect potential exploitation attempts or instability. 4. Implement strict user privilege management and auditing to prevent unauthorized local access that could trigger the vulnerability. 5. In virtualized or containerized environments, ensure that GPU resources are properly isolated and that only trusted workloads have access to Intel Xe graphics devices. 6. Coordinate with hardware and Linux distribution vendors to confirm the presence of the fix and validate system stability post-update. 7. Incorporate this vulnerability into vulnerability management and patching cycles, prioritizing systems with Intel Xe graphics hardware.