dbcve.org
Improper Input ValidationWeakness · CWE-20

CVE-2024-39281

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-11-12
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
The command ctl_persistent_reserve_out allows the caller to specify an arbitrary size which will be passed to the kernel's memory allocator.

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 · moderate confidence

The ctl_persistent_reserve_out command in the Linux kernel allows callers to specify an arbitrary size value that gets passed directly to the kernel's memory allocator without proper validation. This could allow a local attacker to trigger excessive or controlled memory allocations, potentially causing a denial of service or other memory corruption issues.

MitigationApply the upstream kernel patch that adds proper bounds checking on the size parameter before passing it to the memory allocator. For production systems, prioritize patching given the medium severity and local attack vector.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Low

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the running kernel version
    Run `uname -r` to obtain the kernel release version
    Affected if The kernel version is earlier than the version that includes the upstream fix for CVE-2024-39281 (compare against known fixed kernel releases)
  2. Verify the SCSI subsystem is loaded
    Check if the SCSI core module is active by examining `/proc/scsi/scsi` or running `lsmod | grep scsi_mod`
    Affected if The SCSI subsystem is loaded, as the vulnerable code path resides in the SCSI persistent reservation handling
  3. Confirm SCSI persistent reservations are accessible
    Inspect the presence of SCSI generic device files (e.g., `ls -la /dev/sg*`) or check if the sg driver is loaded via `lsmod | grep sg`
    Affected if The sg (SCSI generic) driver is loaded, enabling access to the ctl_persistent_reserve_out ioctl path where the vulnerability exists
  4. Check for active persistent reservation sessions
    Query any active SCSI persistent reservations via `sg_persist --read-keys` or similar sg3_utils commands if the system uses persistent reservations
    Affected if Persistent reservation sessions are active, indicating the vulnerable code path could be triggered through the ctl_persistent_reserve_out command

A system is affected if it runs a kernel version prior to the fix AND has the SCSI subsystem with persistent reservation support enabled, allowing the ctl_persistent_reserve_out command to be invoked with a maliciously sized allocation request.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the upstream kernel patch that adds proper bounds checking on the size parameter before passing it to the memory allocator. For production systems, prioritize patching given the medium severity and local attack vector.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

FreeBSD 13.3-RELEASE or 14.1-STABLE (or later); NetApp ONTAP patched version per vendor advisory

  1. Identify the current FreeBSD version by running 'freebsd-version'.
  2. Run 'freebsd-update fetch' to retrieve the latest security updates.
  3. Run 'freebsd-update install' to apply the patches, which includes the fix for CVE‑2024‑39281.
  4. Reboot the system to load the patched kernel.
  5. Alternatively, rebuild the kernel from source (e.g., 'cd /usr/src && make -j$(nproc) buildworld buildkernel installkernel') after syncing to the stable/13 or stable/14 branch.
  6. For NetApp ONTAP systems, consult the NetApp security advisory and upgrade to the patched ONTAP version recommended therein.

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,560
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,096.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-39281 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2024-39281 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data