Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2024-39503

HIGH · 7.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-07-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.4.279 / 5.10.221 or later.
See remediation →
72/100
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: netfilter: ipset: Fix race between namespace cleanup and gc in the list:set type Lion Ackermann reported that there is a race condition between namespace cleanup in ipset and the garbage collection of the list:set type. The namespace cleanup can destroy the list:set type of sets while the gc of the set type is waiting to run in rcu cleanup. The latter uses data from the destroyed set which thus leads use after free. The patch contains the following parts: - When destroying all sets, first remove the garbage collectors, then wait if needed and then destroy the sets. - Fix the badly ordered "wait then remove gc" for the destroy a single set case. - Fix the missing rcu locking in the list:set type in the userspace test case. - Use proper RCU list handlings in the list:set type. The patch depends on c1193d9bbbd3 (netfilter: ipset: Add list flush to cancel_gc).

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-362

Two operations that should be atomic can interleave, so an attacker who wins a narrow timing window reaches an inconsistent, exploitable state. These bugs are subtle and easy to miss in review. Fixing them properly means correct locking or atomic operations around the shared resource.

General guidance for the race condition 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:>= 5.4.269, < 5.4.279>= 5.10.210, < 5.10.221>= 5.15.149, < 5.15.162>= 6.1.79, < 6.1.95>= 6.6.18, < 6.6.35>= 6.7.6, < 6.8>= 6.8.1, < 6.9.6= 6.8= 6.10

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
High
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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 5.4.279 / 5.10.221 / 5.15.162 or later
Fixed in 5.4.2795.10.2215.15.162
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux kernel 5.4.279+, 5.10.221+, 5.15.162+, or 6.1.95+ (the next stable release in your respective branch)

  1. Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using 'uname -r'
  2. Determine which major kernel branch your version belongs to (e.g., 5.4.x, 5.10.x, 5.15.x, or 6.1.x)
  3. For RHEL/CentOS systems: update kernel via 'yum update' or 'dnf update' and reboot
  4. For Debian/Ubuntu systems: update kernel via 'apt-get update && apt-get upgrade' or 'apt-get dist-upgrade' and reboot
  5. For custom/compiled kernels: obtain the patched source from https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0f1bb77c6d837c9513943bc7c08f04c5cc5c6568, recompile kernel, and reboot
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could have compatibility implications with custom modules or specific hardware drivers

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 $1,950. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-39503 — 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-2024-39503 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