In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
efi: runtime: avoid EFIv2 runtime services on Apple x86 machines
Aditya reports [0] that his recent MacbookPro crashes in the firmware when using the variable services at runtime. The culprit appears to be a call to QueryVariableInfo(), which we did not use to call on Apple x86 machines in the past as they only upgraded from EFI v1.10 to EFI v2.40 firmware fairly recently, and QueryVariableInfo() (along with UpdateCapsule() et al) was added in EFI v2.00.
The only runtime service introduced in EFI v2.00 that we actually use in Linux is QueryVariableInfo(), as the capsule based ones are optional, generally not used at runtime (all the LVFS/fwupd firmware update infrastructure uses helper EFI programs that invoke capsule update at boot time, not runtime), and not implemented by Apple machines in the first place. QueryVariableInfo() is used to 'safely' set variables, i.e., only when there is enough space. This prevents machines with buggy firmwares from corrupting their NVRAMs when they run out of space.
Given that Apple machines have been using EFI v1.10 services only for the longest time (the EFI v2.0 spec was released in 2006, and Linux support for the newly introduced runtime services was added in 2011, but the MacbookPro12,1 released in 2015 still claims to be EFI v1.10 only), let's avoid the EFI v2.0 ones on all Apple x86 machines.
[0] https://lore.kernel.org/all/[email protected]/
CVSS Details
- CVSS 3.1 Base Score: 5.5
- CVSS 3.1 Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H)
Covered by Rapid7
| Product | Vendor Advisory | Solution File | Added | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Linux Ami 2 | — | Upgrade python-perfUpgrade kernel-tools-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-develUpgrade kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64Upgrade kernel-toolsUpgrade bpftoolUpgrade bpftool-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-livepatch-5.10.96-90.460Upgrade kernelUpgrade kernel-debuginfo-common-aarch64Upgrade python-perf-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-debuginfoUpgrade perfUpgrade kernel-headersUpgrade perf-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-tools-devel | Aug 2, 2024 | Jun 20, 2024 |
| Debian | — | Upgrade linux | Jul 30, 2024 | Jun 20, 2024 |
| Huawei Euleros 2_0_sp12 | — | Upgrade kernel-abi-stablelistsUpgrade kernel-tools-libsUpgrade kernel-toolsUpgrade bpftoolUpgrade kernelUpgrade python3-perf | Oct 9, 2024 | Jun 20, 2024 |
| Redhat_linux | — | No solution exists | Jul 9, 2025 | Jun 20, 2024 |
| Suse | — | Upgrade kernel-azure-vdsoUpgrade kernel-rt_debug-livepatch-develUpgrade kselftests-kmp-rtUpgrade kernel-syms-rtUpgrade kernel-rt-livepatchUpgrade kernel-devel-rtUpgrade kernel-rt-develUpgrade dlm-kmp-rtUpgrade kernel-rt-livepatch-develUpgrade dlm-kmp-azureUpgrade ocfs2-kmp-rtUpgrade kernel-rtUpgrade reiserfs-kmp-azureUpgrade kernel-rt_debug-vdsoUpgrade kernel-azure-develUpgrade reiserfs-kmp-rtUpgrade kernel-source-rtUpgrade gfs2-kmp-azureUpgrade kernel-rt_debug-develUpgrade kernel-syms-azureUpgrade kernel-source-azureUpgrade kernel-azure-optionalUpgrade kernel-azureUpgrade cluster-md-kmp-azureUpgrade kernel-rt-vdsoUpgrade kernel-rt-optionalUpgrade gfs2-kmp-rtUpgrade ocfs2-kmp-azureUpgrade kernel-rt_debugUpgrade kernel-devel-azureUpgrade cluster-md-kmp-rtUpgrade kselftests-kmp-azureUpgrade kernel-azure-livepatch-develUpgrade kernel-rt-extraUpgrade kernel-azure-extra | Aug 9, 2024 | Jun 20, 2024 |
| Ubuntu | — | No solution existsUpgrade linux-azure-fde-5.15 | Jun 26, 2025 | Jun 20, 2024 |
| Vmware Photon_os | — | Use 'tdnf update' to upgrade all packages to the latest version. | May 27, 2026 | Jun 20, 2024 |
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