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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2024-40981

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-07-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.19.317 / 5.4.279 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: batman-adv: bypass empty buckets in batadv_purge_orig_ref() Many syzbot reports are pointing to soft lockups in batadv_purge_orig_ref() [1] Root cause is unknown, but we can avoid spending too much time there and perhaps get more interesting reports. [1] watchdog: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#0 stuck for 27s! [kworker/u4:6:621] Modules linked in: irq event stamp: 6182794 hardirqs last enabled at (6182793): [<ffff8000801dae10>] __local_bh_enable_ip+0x224/0x44c kernel/softirq.c:386 hardirqs last disabled at (6182794): [<ffff80008ad66a78>] __el1_irq arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:533 [inline] hardirqs last disabled at (6182794): [<ffff80008ad66a78>] el1_interrupt+0x24/0x68 arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:551 softirqs last enabled at (6182792): [<ffff80008aab71c4>] spin_unlock_bh include/linux/spinlock.h:396 [inline] softirqs last enabled at (6182792): [<ffff80008aab71c4>] batadv_purge_orig_ref+0x114c/0x1228 net/batman-adv/originator.c:1287 softirqs last disabled at (6182790): [<ffff80008aab61dc>] spin_lock_bh include/linux/spinlock.h:356 [inline] softirqs last disabled at (6182790): [<ffff80008aab61dc>] batadv_purge_orig_ref+0x164/0x1228 net/batman-adv/originator.c:1271 CPU: 0 PID: 621 Comm: kworker/u4:6 Not tainted 6.8.0-rc7-syzkaller-g707081b61156 #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 02/29/2024 Workqueue: bat_events batadv_purge_orig pstate: 80400005 (Nzcv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) pc : should_resched arch/arm64/include/asm/preempt.h:79 [inline] pc : __local_bh_enable_ip+0x228/0x44c kernel/softirq.c:388 lr : __local_bh_enable_ip+0x224/0x44c kernel/softirq.c:386 sp : ffff800099007970 x29: ffff800099007980 x28: 1fffe00018fce1bd x27: dfff800000000000 x26: ffff0000d2620008 x25: ffff0000c7e70de8 x24: 0000000000000001 x23: 1fffe00018e57781 x22: dfff800000000000 x21: ffff80008aab71c4 x20: ffff0001b40136c0 x19: ffff0000c72bbc08 x18: 1fffe0001a817bb0 x17: ffff800125414000 x16: ffff80008032116c x15: 0000000000000001 x14: 1fffe0001ee9d610 x13: 0000000000000000 x12: 0000000000000003 x11: 0000000000000000 x10: 0000000000ff0100 x9 : 0000000000000000 x8 : 00000000005e5789 x7 : ffff80008aab61dc x6 : 0000000000000000 x5 : 0000000000000000 x4 : 0000000000000001 x3 : 0000000000000000 x2 : 0000000000000006 x1 : 0000000000000080 x0 : ffff800125414000 Call trace: __daif_local_irq_enable arch/arm64/include/asm/irqflags.h:27 [inline] arch_local_irq_enable arch/arm64/include/asm/irqflags.h:49 [inline] __local_bh_enable_ip+0x228/0x44c kernel/softirq.c:386 __raw_spin_unlock_bh include/linux/spinlock_api_smp.h:167 [inline] _raw_spin_unlock_bh+0x3c/0x4c kernel/locking/spinlock.c:210 spin_unlock_bh include/linux/spinlock.h:396 [inline] batadv_purge_orig_ref+0x114c/0x1228 net/batman-adv/originator.c:1287 batadv_purge_orig+0x20/0x70 net/batman-adv/originator.c:1300 process_one_work+0x694/0x1204 kernel/workqueue.c:2633 process_scheduled_works kernel/workqueue.c:2706 [inline] worker_thread+0x938/0xef4 kernel/workqueue.c:2787 kthread+0x288/0x310 kernel/kthread.c:388 ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 arch/arm64/kernel/entry.S:860 Sending NMI from CPU 0 to CPUs 1: NMI backtrace for cpu 1 CPU: 1 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/1 Not tainted 6.8.0-rc7-syzkaller-g707081b61156 #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 02/29/2024 pstate: 80400005 (Nzcv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) pc : arch_local_irq_enable+0x8/0xc arch/arm64/include/asm/irqflags.h:51 lr : default_idle_call+0xf8/0x128 kernel/sched/idle.c:103 sp : ffff800093a17d30 x29: ffff800093a17d30 x28: dfff800000000000 x27: 1ffff00012742fb4 x26: ffff80008ec9d000 x25: 0000000000000000 x24: 0000000000000002 x23: 1ffff00011d93a74 x22: ffff80008ec9d3a0 x21: 0000000000000000 x20: ffff0000c19dbc00 x19: ffff8000802d0fd8 x18: 1fffe00036804396 x17: ffff80008ec9d000 x16: ffff8000802d089c x15: 0000000000000001 ---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 analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-667

Shared resources are accessed without correct locking, so concurrent operations interleave into inconsistent — and sometimes exploitable — states, or deadlock the service outright. These bugs are subtle and timing-dependent. The fix is correct, consistent locking or atomic operations around every shared resource.

General guidance for the improper locking 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:< 4.19.317>= 4.20, < 5.4.279>= 5.5, < 5.10.221>= 5.11, < 5.15.162>= 5.16, < 6.1.96>= 6.2, < 6.6.36>= 6.7, < 6.9.7

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 4.19.317 / 5.4.279 / 5.10.221 or later
Fixed in 4.19.3175.4.2795.10.221
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel version 4.19.317+, 5.4.279+, 5.10.221+, or 5.15.162+ (depending on which stable branch is in use)

  1. Identify the current Linux kernel version running on affected systems using `uname -r`
  2. Determine which kernel branch is in use (4.19.y, 5.4.y, 5.10.y, or 5.15.y)
  3. Upgrade the kernel to a version that includes the fix: 4.19.317 or later, 5.4.279 or later, 5.10.221 or later, or 5.15.162 or later
  4. Reboot the system to load the new kernel
  5. Verify the new kernel version is running using `uname -r`
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system downtime and could affect proprietary drivers or modules; test thoroughly before production deployment

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

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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-2024-40981 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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