[PATCH v2] vulnerabilities: add section for kernel CVEs vulnerabilities

[PATCH v2] vulnerabilities: add section for kernel CVEs vulnerabilities

[daniel.turull]

From: Daniel Turull <daniel.turull@ericsson.com>

Documentation to include how to use scripts that can help
with kernel CVEs introduce by:

e60b1759c1 improve_kernel_cve_report: add script for postprocesing of kernel CVE data
12612e8680 linux/generate-cve-exclusions: use data from CVEProject

CC: Antonin Godard <antonin.godard@bootlin.com>
Signed-off-by: Daniel Turull <daniel.turull@ericsson.com>

---

v2: address all Antonin's comments
---
 documentation/dev-manual/vulnerabilities.rst | 180 +++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 180 insertions(+)

diff --git a/documentation/dev-manual/vulnerabilities.rst b/documentation/dev-manual/vulnerabilities.rst
index 3a83a40f3..9009d8b00 100644
--- a/documentation/dev-manual/vulnerabilities.rst
+++ b/documentation/dev-manual/vulnerabilities.rst
@@ -335,3 +335,183 @@ When analyzing CVEs, it is recommended to:
 -  follow public `open source security mailing lists <https://oss-security.openwall.org/wiki/mailing-lists>`__ for
    discussions and advance notifications of CVE bugs and software releases with fixes.
 
+Linux kernel vulnerabilities
+============================
+
+Since the Linux kernel became a CVE Numbering Authority (CNA), the number of
+associated CVEs has increased dramatically. Security teams must address these
+CVEs to meet regulatory and customer requirements. Automation on identifying
+issue helps to reduce their workload.
+
+:term:`OpenEmbedded-Core (OE-Core)` has two scripts that help to characterize
+and filter CVEs that affect the Linux kernel:
+
+-  ``openembedded-core/meta/recipes-kernel/linux/generate-cve-exclusions.py``
+-  ``openembedded-core/scripts/contrib/improve_kernel_cve_report.py``
+
+``generate-cve-exclusions.py``
+------------------------------
+
+When updating a kernel recipe, a helper script needs to be run manually to
+update the :term:`CVE_STATUS` for the kernel recipe. The script can be used
+for custom kernels.
+
+First we need to get an updated version of the CVE information from the
+``CVE Project``. Run it as follows::
+
+   $ git clone https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5 ~/cvelistV5
+
+or if you have alread cloned it, you need to pull the latest data::
+
+   $ git -C ~/cvelistV5 pull
+
+Then, autogenerate the :term:`CVE_STATUS` information for the desired version
+of the kernel::
+
+   $ ./generate-cve-exclusions.py ~/cvelistV5 <version> > cve-exclusion_<kernel_version>.inc
+
+Example::
+
+   $ git clone https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5 ~/cvelistV5
+   $ cd openembedded-core/meta/recipes-kernel/linux/
+   $ ./generate-cve-exclusions.py ~/cvelistV5 6.12.27 > ~/meta-custom/recipes-kernel/linux/cve-exclusion_6.12.inc
+
+Don't forget to update your custom kernel recipe with::
+
+   include cve-exclusion_6.12.inc
+
+Then the CVE information will automatically be added in the
+:ref:`ref-classes-cve-check` or :ref:`ref-classes-vex` report.
+
+``improve_kernel_cve_report.py``
+--------------------------------
+
+The script in ``openembedded-core/scripts/contrib/improve_kernel_cve_report.py``
+leverages CVE kernel metadata and the :term:`SPDX_INCLUDE_COMPILED_SOURCES`
+variable to update the ``cve-summary.json`` file. It reduces CVE false
+positives by 70%-80% and provide detailed responses for all kernel-related
+CVEs by using the files used to build the kernel. The script is decoupled from
+the build and can be run outside of the :term:`BitBake` environment.
+
+The script uses the output from the :ref:`ref-classes-vex` or
+:ref:`ref-classes-cve-check` class as input, together with CVE information from
+the Linux kernel CNA to enrich the ``cve-summary.json`` file with updated CVE
+information. It creates a new json file with updated CVE information.
+The file name can be specified as argument. Optionally, it can also use the
+list of compiled files from the kernel :term:`SPDX` to ignore CVEs that are
+not affected because the files are not compiled.
+
+For this, BitBake uses the debug information to extract the sources used to
+build a binary. Therefore, it needs to be configured in the kernel to extract
+the kernel compiled files.
+
+If you are using the ``linux-yocto`` recipe, enable it by adding the following
+in a :term:`configuration file` or in a ``.bbappend``::
+
+   KERNEL_EXTRA_FEATURES:append = " features/debug/debug-kernel.scc"
+
+Or by editing your kernel configuration to include DWARF4 debug information.
+
+See the :ref:`kernel-dev/common:Changing the Configuration` section of the Yocto
+Project Linux Kernel Development Manual for more information.
+
+For the following example, we will consider that the kernel recipe used is
+``linux-yocto``. Instructions also apply to other kernel recipes named
+differently.
+
+The sources for the kernel are stored under
+``tmp/pkgdata/<MACHINE>/debugsources/linux-yocto-debugsources.json.zstd``. In
+order to include the information into the :term:`SPDX` file to filter out
+source files that are not used to compile the kernel, add the following in a
+:term:`configuration file`::
+
+   SPDX_INCLUDE_COMPILED_SOURCES:pn-linux-yocto = "1"
+
+Finally, store either the ``recipe-linux-yocto.spdx.json`` or the
+``linux-yocto-debugsources.json.zstd`` outside the :term:`build directory`.
+
+The :term:`SPDX` file is under
+``tmp/deploy/spdx/<spdx_version>/<MACHINE>/recipes/recipe-linux-yocto.spdx.json``
+
+Once you have the input data, first you need to clone or fetch the latest CVE
+information from kernel.org::
+
+   $ git clone https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/security/vulns.git ~/vulns
+
+or if already checked out::
+
+   $ git -C ~/vulns pull
+
+Finally, run the script by using one of the examples below. The most exact are
+the first two examples, using the old cve-summary.json.
+
+- Example using ``--old-cve-report`` as input::
+
+   $ python3 openembedded-core/scripts/contrib/improve_kernel_cve_report.py \
+      --spdx tmp/deploy/spdx/3.0.1/qemux86_64/recipes/recipe-linux-yocto.spdx.json \
+      --datadir ~/vulns \
+      --old-cve-report build/tmp/log/cve/cve-summary.json
+
+- Example using ``--debug-sources`` file instead of SPDX kernel file::
+
+   $ python3 openembedded-core/scripts/contrib/improve_kernel_cve_report.py \
+      --debug-sources tmp/pkgdata/qemux86_64/debugsources/linux-yocto-debugsources.json.zstd \
+      --datadir ~/vulns \
+      --old-cve-report build/tmp/log/cve/cve-summary.json
+
+- Example using the ``--kernel-version``::
+
+   $ python3 openembedded-core/scripts/contrib/improve_kernel_cve_report.py \
+      --spdx tmp/deploy/spdx/3.0.1/qemux86_64/recipes/recipe-linux-yocto.spdx.json \
+      --kernel-version 6.12.27 \
+      --datadir ~/vulns
+
+Example output for a CVE for which the status was changed to "Ignored" because
+the source files associated to the CVE were not compiled:
+
+.. code-block:: json
+
+   {
+      "id": "CVE-2025-38384",
+      "status": "Ignored",
+      "detail": "not-applicable-config",
+      "summary": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved (...)",
+      "description": "Source code not compiled by config. {'drivers/mtd/nand/spi/core.c'}"
+   }
+
+Example of output for a CVE not in range:
+
+.. code-block:: json
+
+   {
+      "id": "CVE-2025-40017",
+      "status": "Patched",
+      "detail": "fixed-version",
+      "summary": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved (...)",
+      "description": "only affects 6.15 onwards"
+   }
+
+Example of output for a CVE that is vulnerable:
+
+.. code-block:: json
+
+   {
+      "id": "CVE-2024-58093",
+      "status": "Unpatched",
+      "detail": "version-in-range",
+      "summary": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved (...)",
+      "description": "Needs backporting (fixed from 6.15)"
+   }
+
+Example of output for a CVE rejected by the Linux CNA:
+
+.. code-block:: json
+
+   {
+      "id": "CVE-2025-38380",
+      "status": "Ignored",
+      "detail": "rejected",
+      "summary": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved (...)",
+      "description": "Rejected by CNA"
+   }
+
-- 
2.34.1

Re: [docs] [PATCH v2] vulnerabilities: add section for kernel CVEs vulnerabilities

[Antonin Godard]

Hi,

Thanks for the revised patch. I've noticed some minor formatting/spelling fixes
I've pushed here:
https://git.yoctoproject.org/yocto-docs/commit/?id=70cb90312e23b4b1a531b3ec9bd03232ab116e99

Let me know if they make sense to you, I'll just integrate them in your patch if
they do.

Antonin

-- 
Antonin Godard, Bootlin
Embedded Linux and Kernel engineering
https://bootlin.com

RE: [docs] [PATCH v2] vulnerabilities: add section for kernel CVEs vulnerabilities

[Daniel Turull]

They look excellent. Thanks for changing them directly and summit the patch.

Daniel

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Antonin Godard <antonin.godard@bootlin.com>
> Sent: Thursday, 13 November 2025 09:42
> To: Daniel Turull <daniel.turull@ericsson.com>; docs@lists.yoctoproject.org
> Subject: Re: [docs] [PATCH v2] vulnerabilities: add section for kernel CVEs
> vulnerabilities
>
> Hi,
>
> Thanks for the revised patch. I've noticed some minor formatting/spelling fixes
> I've pushed here:
> https://git.yoctopr/
> oject.org%2Fyocto-
> docs%2Fcommit%2F%3Fid%3D70cb90312e23b4b1a531b3ec9bd03232ab116e99
> &data=05%7C02%7Cdaniel.turull%40ericsson.com%7C095c58d580c14b263e580
> 8de2290914a%7C92e84cebfbfd47abbe52080c6b87953f%7C0%7C0%7C6389862
> 01474538019%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYi
> OiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0
> %7C%7C%7C&sdata=HgQEqVG6mSvV%2BS0SdmVihm1mXJIW5ZXKP6UorP%2BfK
> 6I%3D&reserved=0
>
> Let me know if they make sense to you, I'll just integrate them in your patch if
> they do.
>
> Antonin
>
> --
> Antonin Godard, Bootlin
> Embedded Linux and Kernel engineering
> https://bootlin.co/
> m%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cdaniel.turull%40ericsson.com%7C095c58d580c14b26
> 3e5808de2290914a%7C92e84cebfbfd47abbe52080c6b87953f%7C0%7C0%7C63
> 8986201474558678%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRyd
> WUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%
> 3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=1TO1DmJF7xuMPl4%2BLjP%2BRj1KydZAjcmT2h0JP
> GuscCk%3D&reserved=0

Re: [PATCH v2] vulnerabilities: add section for kernel CVEs vulnerabilities

[Antonin Godard]

On Mon, 10 Nov 2025 09:45:48 +0100, daniel.turull@ericsson.com wrote:
> Documentation to include how to use scripts that can help
> with kernel CVEs introduce by:
> 
> e60b1759c1 improve_kernel_cve_report: add script for postprocesing of kernel CVE data
> 12612e8680 linux/generate-cve-exclusions: use data from CVEProject
> 
> 
> [...]

Applied, thanks!

[1/1] vulnerabilities: add section for kernel CVEs vulnerabilities
      commit: 20278cd79d9506fbeb8860ad11f49c71d401f08d

Best regards,
--