Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2024-38539
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: RDMA/cma: Fix kmemleak in rdma_core observed during blktests nvme/rdma use siw When running blktests nvme/rdma, the following kmemleak issue will appear. kmemleak: Kernel memory leak detector initialized (mempool available:36041) kmemleak: Automatic memory scanning thread started kmemleak: 2 new suspected memory leaks (see /sys/kernel/debug/kmemleak) kmemleak: 8 new suspected memory leaks (see /sys/kernel/debug/kmemleak) kmemleak: 17 new suspected memory leaks (see /sys/kernel/debug/kmemleak) kmemleak: 4 new suspected memory leaks (see /sys/kernel/debug/kmemleak) unreferenced object 0xffff88855da53400 (size 192): comm "rdma", pid 10630, jiffies 4296575922 hex dump (first 32 bytes): 37 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 c0 ff ff ff 1f 00 00 00 7............... 10 34 a5 5d 85 88 ff ff 10 34 a5 5d 85 88 ff ff .4.].....4.].... backtrace (crc 47f66721): [<ffffffff911251bd>] kmalloc_trace+0x30d/0x3b0 [<ffffffffc2640ff7>] alloc_gid_entry+0x47/0x380 [ib_core] [<ffffffffc2642206>] add_modify_gid+0x166/0x930 [ib_core] [<ffffffffc2643468>] ib_cache_update.part.0+0x6d8/0x910 [ib_core] [<ffffffffc2644e1a>] ib_cache_setup_one+0x24a/0x350 [ib_core] [<ffffffffc263949e>] ib_register_device+0x9e/0x3a0 [ib_core] [<ffffffffc2a3d389>] 0xffffffffc2a3d389 [<ffffffffc2688cd8>] nldev_newlink+0x2b8/0x520 [ib_core] [<ffffffffc2645fe3>] rdma_nl_rcv_msg+0x2c3/0x520 [ib_core] [<ffffffffc264648c>] rdma_nl_rcv_skb.constprop.0.isra.0+0x23c/0x3a0 [ib_core] [<ffffffff9270e7b5>] netlink_unicast+0x445/0x710 [<ffffffff9270f1f1>] netlink_sendmsg+0x761/0xc40 [<ffffffff9249db29>] __sys_sendto+0x3a9/0x420 [<ffffffff9249dc8c>] __x64_sys_sendto+0xdc/0x1b0 [<ffffffff92db0ad3>] do_syscall_64+0x93/0x180 [<ffffffff92e00126>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x71/0x79 The root cause: rdma_put_gid_attr is not called when sgid_attr is set to ERR_PTR(-ENODEV).
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 analysisAllocated memory is never released on some path, so a long-running service or a repeatedly triggered request steadily consumes memory until performance degrades or the process crashes. Attackers exploit it by simply driving the leaking path. Remediation is pairing every allocation with a release and using ownership patterns or tooling to catch what leaks.
General guidance for the memory leak 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
>= 6.6, < 6.6.33>= 6.7, < 6.8.12>= 6.9, < 6.9.3CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 · scoped6.6.336.8.126.9.3
Linux kernel 6.6.33 (or 6.8.12 or 6.9.3, depending on which release line you are on)
- 1. Check current kernel version using `uname -r`
- 2. Plan upgrade to one of the fixed releases: Linux kernel 6.6.33+, 6.8.12+, or 6.9.3+
- 3. Backup current kernel and system
- 4. Install the updated kernel package via distribution package manager (e.g., `apt-get dist-upgrade`, `yum update`, or compile from kernel.org sources
- 5. Reboot system into the upgraded kernel
- 6. Verify the fix is applied by checking kernel version with `uname -r`
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-2024-38539 — 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-2024-38539 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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