Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2024-39474

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-07-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.17 / 6.1.95 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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: mm/vmalloc: fix vmalloc which may return null if called with __GFP_NOFAIL commit a421ef303008 ("mm: allow !GFP_KERNEL allocations for kvmalloc") includes support for __GFP_NOFAIL, but it presents a conflict with commit dd544141b9eb ("vmalloc: back off when the current task is OOM-killed"). A possible scenario is as follows: process-a __vmalloc_node_range(GFP_KERNEL | __GFP_NOFAIL) __vmalloc_area_node() vm_area_alloc_pages() --> oom-killer send SIGKILL to process-a if (fatal_signal_pending(current)) break; --> return NULL; To fix this, do not check fatal_signal_pending() in vm_area_alloc_pages() if __GFP_NOFAIL set. This issue occurred during OPLUS KASAN TEST. Below is part of the log -> oom-killer sends signal to process [65731.222840] [ T1308] oom-kill:constraint=CONSTRAINT_NONE,nodemask=(null),cpuset=/,mems_allowed=0,global_oom,task_memcg=/apps/uid_10198,task=gs.intelligence,pid=32454,uid=10198 [65731.259685] [T32454] Call trace: [65731.259698] [T32454] dump_backtrace+0xf4/0x118 [65731.259734] [T32454] show_stack+0x18/0x24 [65731.259756] [T32454] dump_stack_lvl+0x60/0x7c [65731.259781] [T32454] dump_stack+0x18/0x38 [65731.259800] [T32454] mrdump_common_die+0x250/0x39c [mrdump] [65731.259936] [T32454] ipanic_die+0x20/0x34 [mrdump] [65731.260019] [T32454] atomic_notifier_call_chain+0xb4/0xfc [65731.260047] [T32454] notify_die+0x114/0x198 [65731.260073] [T32454] die+0xf4/0x5b4 [65731.260098] [T32454] die_kernel_fault+0x80/0x98 [65731.260124] [T32454] __do_kernel_fault+0x160/0x2a8 [65731.260146] [T32454] do_bad_area+0x68/0x148 [65731.260174] [T32454] do_mem_abort+0x151c/0x1b34 [65731.260204] [T32454] el1_abort+0x3c/0x5c [65731.260227] [T32454] el1h_64_sync_handler+0x54/0x90 [65731.260248] [T32454] el1h_64_sync+0x68/0x6c [65731.260269] [T32454] z_erofs_decompress_queue+0x7f0/0x2258 --> be->decompressed_pages = kvcalloc(be->nr_pages, sizeof(struct page *), GFP_KERNEL | __GFP_NOFAIL); kernel panic by NULL pointer dereference. erofs assume kvmalloc with __GFP_NOFAIL never return NULL. [65731.260293] [T32454] z_erofs_runqueue+0xf30/0x104c [65731.260314] [T32454] z_erofs_readahead+0x4f0/0x968 [65731.260339] [T32454] read_pages+0x170/0xadc [65731.260364] [T32454] page_cache_ra_unbounded+0x874/0xf30 [65731.260388] [T32454] page_cache_ra_order+0x24c/0x714 [65731.260411] [T32454] filemap_fault+0xbf0/0x1a74 [65731.260437] [T32454] __do_fault+0xd0/0x33c [65731.260462] [T32454] handle_mm_fault+0xf74/0x3fe0 [65731.260486] [T32454] do_mem_abort+0x54c/0x1b34 [65731.260509] [T32454] el0_da+0x44/0x94 [65731.260531] [T32454] el0t_64_sync_handler+0x98/0xb4 [65731.260553] [T32454] el0t_64_sync+0x198/0x19c

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-770

The application allocates memory, connections, or handles in response to a request without enforcing any cap, so a modest amount of malicious traffic exhausts the resource and denies service to everyone else. The fix is enforcing quotas, limits, and timeouts on what any single request or client can consume.

General guidance for the resource allocation without limits 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:< 5.17>= 6.1, < 6.1.95>= 6.6, < 6.6.34>= 6.9, < 6.9.5

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
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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.17 / 6.1.95 / 6.6.34 or later
Fixed in 5.176.1.956.6.34
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

6.1.95+ (for 6.1.x) or 6.6.34+ (for 6.6.x) or 6.9.5+ (for 6.9.x)

  1. Identify the current kernel version using `uname -r` or `cat /proc/version`
  2. Determine the appropriate upgrade path based on the current version branch (6.1.x, 6.6.x, or 6.9.x)
  3. For systems running 6.1.x: upgrade to kernel version 6.1.95 or later
  4. For systems running 6.6.x: upgrade to kernel version 6.6.34 or later
  5. For systems running 6.9.x: upgrade to kernel version 6.9.5 or later
  6. For systems running versions below 5.17: upgrade to a supported stable version (6.1.95+, 6.6.34+, or 6.9.5+)
  7. Reboot the system into the new kernel
  8. Verify the kernel version post-upgrade using `uname -r`
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebuilding out-of-tree kernel modules; ensure module compatibility before upgrading

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 $1,600. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
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Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-39474 — 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-2024-39474 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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