CVE-2024-26976
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 · uneditedIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: Always flush async #PF workqueue when vCPU is being destroyed Always flush the per-vCPU async #PF workqueue when a vCPU is clearing its completion queue, e.g. when a VM and all its vCPUs is being destroyed. KVM must ensure that none of its workqueue callbacks is running when the last reference to the KVM _module_ is put. Gifting a reference to the associated VM prevents the workqueue callback from dereferencing freed vCPU/VM memory, but does not prevent the KVM module from being unloaded before the callback completes. Drop the misguided VM refcount gifting, as calling kvm_put_kvm() from async_pf_execute() if kvm_put_kvm() flushes the async #PF workqueue will result in deadlock. async_pf_execute() can't return until kvm_put_kvm() finishes, and kvm_put_kvm() can't return until async_pf_execute() finishes: WARNING: CPU: 8 PID: 251 at virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:1435 kvm_put_kvm+0x2d/0x320 [kvm] Modules linked in: vhost_net vhost vhost_iotlb tap kvm_intel kvm irqbypass CPU: 8 PID: 251 Comm: kworker/8:1 Tainted: G W 6.6.0-rc1-e7af8d17224a-x86/gmem-vm #119 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 0.0.0 02/06/2015 Workqueue: events async_pf_execute [kvm] RIP: 0010:kvm_put_kvm+0x2d/0x320 [kvm] Call Trace: <TASK> async_pf_execute+0x198/0x260 [kvm] process_one_work+0x145/0x2d0 worker_thread+0x27e/0x3a0 kthread+0xba/0xe0 ret_from_fork+0x2d/0x50 ret_from_fork_asm+0x11/0x20 </TASK> ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- INFO: task kworker/8:1:251 blocked for more than 120 seconds. Tainted: G W 6.6.0-rc1-e7af8d17224a-x86/gmem-vm #119 "echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message. task:kworker/8:1 state:D stack:0 pid:251 ppid:2 flags:0x00004000 Workqueue: events async_pf_execute [kvm] Call Trace: <TASK> __schedule+0x33f/0xa40 schedule+0x53/0xc0 schedule_timeout+0x12a/0x140 __wait_for_common+0x8d/0x1d0 __flush_work.isra.0+0x19f/0x2c0 kvm_clear_async_pf_completion_queue+0x129/0x190 [kvm] kvm_arch_destroy_vm+0x78/0x1b0 [kvm] kvm_put_kvm+0x1c1/0x320 [kvm] async_pf_execute+0x198/0x260 [kvm] process_one_work+0x145/0x2d0 worker_thread+0x27e/0x3a0 kthread+0xba/0xe0 ret_from_fork+0x2d/0x50 ret_from_fork_asm+0x11/0x20 </TASK> If kvm_clear_async_pf_completion_queue() actually flushes the workqueue, then there's no need to gift async_pf_execute() a reference because all invocations of async_pf_execute() will be forced to complete before the vCPU and its VM are destroyed/freed. And that in turn fixes the module unloading bug as __fput() won't do module_put() on the last vCPU reference until the vCPU has been freed, e.g. if closing the vCPU file also puts the last reference to the KVM module. Note that kvm_check_async_pf_completion() may also take the work item off the completion queue and so also needs to flush the work queue, as the work will not be seen by kvm_clear_async_pf_completion_queue(). Waiting on the workqueue could theoretically delay a vCPU due to waiting for the work to complete, but that's a very, very small chance, and likely a very small delay. kvm_arch_async_page_present_queued() unconditionally makes a new request, i.e. will effectively delay entering the guest, so the remaining work is really just: trace_kvm_async_pf_completed(addr, cr2_or_gpa); __kvm_vcpu_wake_up(vcpu); mmput(mm); and mmput() can't drop the last reference to the page tables if the vCPU is still alive, i.e. the vCPU won't get stuck tearing down page tables. Add a helper to do the flushing, specifically to deal with "wakeup all" work items, as they aren't actually work items, i.e. are never placed in a workqueue. Trying to flush a bogus workqueue entry rightly makes __flush_work() complain (kudos to whoever added that sanity check). Note, commit 5f6de5cbebee ("KVM: Prevent module exit until al ---truncated---
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 analysisA single request can consume unbounded CPU, memory, or connections, so a modest amount of malicious traffic exhausts the service. The result is denial of service for everyone else. Remediation is enforcing limits, quotas, and timeouts on what any one request can use.
General guidance for the uncontrolled resource consumption 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>= 2.6.38, < 4.19.312>= 4.20, < 5.4.274>= 5.5, < 5.10.215>= 5.11, < 5.15.154>= 5.16, < 6.1.84>= 6.2, < 6.6.24>= 6.7, < 6.7.12>= 6.8, < 6.8.3= 10.0CVSS 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 · scoped4.19.3125.4.2745.10.215
Linux Kernel >= 4.19.312, >= 5.4.274, >= 5.10.215, or >= 5.15.154 (or distribution-specific kernel package that includes the fix)
- Identify the current kernel version using 'uname -r' or 'cat /proc/version'
- For Debian 10 (Buster) users: Check if the distribution vendor has released a security update (DSA) addressing this CVE, or consider upgrading to Debian 11/12 which include fixed kernel versions
- For other Linux distributions: Upgrade the kernel to a fixed version: 4.19.312 or later for 4.19.y branch, 5.4.274 or later for 5.4.y branch, 5.10.215 or later for 5.10.y branch, or 5.15.154 or later for 5.15.y branch
- After kernel upgrade, reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
- Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version: 'uname -r' and confirm it shows a version >= the fixed release for your branch
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-26976 — 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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-26976 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
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