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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2024-50231

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-11-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.6.60 / 6.11.7 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: iio: gts-helper: Fix memory leaks in iio_gts_build_avail_scale_table() modprobe iio-test-gts and rmmod it, then the following memory leak occurs: unreferenced object 0xffffff80c810be00 (size 64): comm "kunit_try_catch", pid 1654, jiffies 4294913981 hex dump (first 32 bytes): 02 00 00 00 08 00 00 00 20 00 00 00 40 00 00 00 ........ ...@... 80 00 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 04 00 00 00 08 00 00 ................ backtrace (crc a63d875e): [<0000000028c1b3c2>] kmemleak_alloc+0x34/0x40 [<000000001d6ecc87>] __kmalloc_noprof+0x2bc/0x3c0 [<00000000393795c1>] devm_iio_init_iio_gts+0x4b4/0x16f4 [<0000000071bb4b09>] 0xffffffdf052a62e0 [<000000000315bc18>] 0xffffffdf052a6488 [<00000000f9dc55b5>] kunit_try_run_case+0x13c/0x3ac [<00000000175a3fd4>] kunit_generic_run_threadfn_adapter+0x80/0xec [<00000000f505065d>] kthread+0x2e8/0x374 [<00000000bbfb0e5d>] ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 unreferenced object 0xffffff80cbfe9e70 (size 16): comm "kunit_try_catch", pid 1658, jiffies 4294914015 hex dump (first 16 bytes): 10 00 00 00 40 00 00 00 80 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ....@........... backtrace (crc 857f0cb4): [<0000000028c1b3c2>] kmemleak_alloc+0x34/0x40 [<000000001d6ecc87>] __kmalloc_noprof+0x2bc/0x3c0 [<00000000393795c1>] devm_iio_init_iio_gts+0x4b4/0x16f4 [<0000000071bb4b09>] 0xffffffdf052a62e0 [<000000007d089d45>] 0xffffffdf052a6864 [<00000000f9dc55b5>] kunit_try_run_case+0x13c/0x3ac [<00000000175a3fd4>] kunit_generic_run_threadfn_adapter+0x80/0xec [<00000000f505065d>] kthread+0x2e8/0x374 [<00000000bbfb0e5d>] ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 ...... It includes 5*5 times "size 64" memory leaks, which correspond to 5 times test_init_iio_gain_scale() calls with gts_test_gains size 10 (10*size(int)) and gts_test_itimes size 5. It also includes 5*1 times "size 16" memory leak, which correspond to one time __test_init_iio_gain_scale() call with gts_test_gains_gain_low size 3 (3*size(int)) and gts_test_itimes size 5. The reason is that the per_time_gains[i] is not freed which is allocated in the "gts->num_itime" for loop in iio_gts_build_avail_scale_table().

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-401

Allocated 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
Affected:>= 6.4, < 6.6.60>= 6.7, < 6.11.7= 6.12

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 6.6.60 / 6.11.7 or later
Fixed in 6.6.606.11.7
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

6.6.60 (for 6.6.y), 6.11.7 (for 6.7-6.11.y), or 6.12.1 (for 6.12.y)

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Determine which major kernel branch you're on (e.g., 6.6.y, 6.7-6.11.y, or 6.12.y)
  3. For 6.6.y branch: Upgrade to kernel version 6.6.60 or later (e.g., 6.6.61, 6.6.62)
  4. For 6.7-6.11.y branch: Upgrade to kernel version 6.11.7 or later (e.g., 6.11.8, 6.11.9, 6.12.x)
  5. For 6.12.y branch: Upgrade to kernel version 6.12.1 or later
  6. Apply the upgrade via your distribution's package manager (e.g., `apt-get dist-upgrade`, `yum update`, or dnf)
  7. Reboot the system to load the new kernel
  8. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version matches a fixed release
Caveat Kernel upgrades are routine stable updates; the memory leak fix has no expected user-facing breaking changes

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-2024-50231 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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