Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2024-26598

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-02-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.4.269 / 5.10.209 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: arm64: vgic-its: Avoid potential UAF in LPI translation cache There is a potential UAF scenario in the case of an LPI translation cache hit racing with an operation that invalidates the cache, such as a DISCARD ITS command. The root of the problem is that vgic_its_check_cache() does not elevate the refcount on the vgic_irq before dropping the lock that serializes refcount changes. Have vgic_its_check_cache() raise the refcount on the returned vgic_irq and add the corresponding decrement after queueing the interrupt.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-416

Memory is used after it has been freed, so its contents — now potentially attacker-controlled — drive the program's behaviour. With careful heap grooming this becomes code execution. The fix requires disciplined ownership of memory and often a targeted rework of the object lifecycle.

General guidance for the use after free class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 5.4, < 5.4.269>= 5.5, < 5.10.209>= 5.11, < 5.15.148>= 5.16, < 6.1.75>= 6.2, < 6.6.14>= 6.7, < 6.7.2
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 10.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.4.269 / 5.10.209 / 5.15.148 or later
Fixed in 5.4.2695.10.2095.15.148
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Linux kernel >= 5.4.269 (for 5.4.x), >= 5.10.209 (for 5.10.x), >= 5.15.148 (for 5.15.x), or >= 6.1.75 (for 6.1.x and later). For Debian 10, migrate to Debian 11 (Bullseye) or Debian 12 (Bookworm) which include fixed kernels.

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using 'uname -r'
  2. Determine which version branch your kernel belongs to (e.g., 5.15.x, 6.1.x, etc.)
  3. For Debian 10 (Buster), check if vendor updates are available via 'apt-get update && apt-get upgrade' or consider upgrading to a supported Debian release
  4. Upgrade the Linux kernel to a version at or beyond: 5.4.269, 5.10.209, 5.15.148, or 6.1.75 depending on your current branch
  5. After kernel upgrade, reboot the system to load the patched kernel
  6. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and confirming the commit 12c2759ab1343c124ed46ba48f27bd1ef5d2dff4 is included
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could introduce compatibility issues with custom drivers or modules. Ensure backups and test in non-production environment first.

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $3,200. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-26598 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-26598 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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