CVE-2024-56761 | x86/fred: Clear WFE in missing-ENDBRANCH #CPs

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: x86/fred: Clear WFE in missing-ENDBRANCH #CPs An indirect branch instruction sets the CPU indirect branch tracker (IBT) into WAIT_FOR_ENDBRANCH (WFE) state and WFE stays asserted across the instruction boundary. When the decoder finds an inappropriate instruction while WFE is set ENDBR, the CPU raises a #CP fault. For the "kernel IBT no ENDBR" selftest where #CPs are deliberately triggered, the WFE state of the interrupted context needs to be cleared to let execution continue. Otherwise when the CPU resumes from the instruction that just caused the previous #CP, another missing-ENDBRANCH #CP is raised and the CPU enters a dead loop. This is not a problem with IDT because it doesn't preserve WFE and IRET doesn't set WFE. But FRED provides space on the entry stack (in an expanded CS area) to save and restore the WFE state, thus the WFE state is no longer clobbered, so software must clear it. Clear WFE to avoid dead looping in ibt_clear_fred_wfe() and the !ibt_fatal code path when execution is allowed to continue. Clobbering WFE in any other circumstance is a security-relevant bug. [ dhansen: changelog rewording ]

Published: 2025-01-06 Last update: 2025-01-09 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2024-56761 is rated Low Risk (26.5/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.04%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2024-56761

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2025-11-21 0.06% 0.04% -0.02%
2 2025-11-18 0.04% 0.06% +0.02%
3 2025-01-07 0.04%

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2024-56761

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2024-56761

OS Trackers for CVE-2024-56761

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2024-56761 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2024-56761
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2024-56761
suse medium CVE-2024-56761 severity moderate: SUSE including 52 source package names (cluster-md-kmp-default, dlm-kmp-default, …), 306 product×package rows across 58 product lines (SLES-LTSS-TERADATA 15 SP2, SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 12 SP5, … (58 product lines)): Known Not Affected 280, Fixed 26. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2024-56761/
ubuntu medium CVE-2024-56761 medium priority: Ubuntu including 150 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1487 status rows across 10 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1097, ignored 147, released 128, not-affected 115. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2024-56761

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2024-56761

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 6.6, < 6.12.8 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.13 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.13:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.13 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.13:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.13 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.13:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.13 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.13:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2024-56761

cvelogic Threat Intelligence