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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2024-53121

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-12-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.1.119 / 6.6.63 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: net/mlx5: fs, lock FTE when checking if active The referenced commits introduced a two-step process for deleting FTEs: - Lock the FTE, delete it from hardware, set the hardware deletion function to NULL and unlock the FTE. - Lock the parent flow group, delete the software copy of the FTE, and remove it from the xarray. However, this approach encounters a race condition if a rule with the same match value is added simultaneously. In this scenario, fs_core may set the hardware deletion function to NULL prematurely, causing a panic during subsequent rule deletions. To prevent this, ensure the active flag of the FTE is checked under a lock, which will prevent the fs_core layer from attaching a new steering rule to an FTE that is in the process of deletion. [ 438.967589] MOSHE: 2496 mlx5_del_flow_rules del_hw_func [ 438.968205] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [ 438.968654] refcount_t: decrement hit 0; leaking memory. [ 438.969249] WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 8957 at lib/refcount.c:31 refcount_warn_saturate+0xfb/0x110 [ 438.970054] Modules linked in: act_mirred cls_flower act_gact sch_ingress openvswitch nsh mlx5_vdpa vringh vhost_iotlb vdpa mlx5_ib mlx5_core xt_conntrack xt_MASQUERADE nf_conntrack_netlink nfnetlink xt_addrtype iptable_nat nf_nat br_netfilter rpcsec_gss_krb5 auth_rpcgss oid_registry overlay rpcrdma rdma_ucm ib_iser libiscsi scsi_transport_iscsi ib_umad rdma_cm ib_ipoib iw_cm ib_cm ib_uverbs ib_core zram zsmalloc fuse [last unloaded: cls_flower] [ 438.973288] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 8957 Comm: tc Not tainted 6.12.0-rc1+ #8 [ 438.973888] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS rel-1.13.0-0-gf21b5a4aeb02-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 [ 438.974874] RIP: 0010:refcount_warn_saturate+0xfb/0x110 [ 438.975363] Code: 40 66 3b 82 c6 05 16 e9 4d 01 01 e8 1f 7c a0 ff 0f 0b c3 cc cc cc cc 48 c7 c7 10 66 3b 82 c6 05 fd e8 4d 01 01 e8 05 7c a0 ff <0f> 0b c3 cc cc cc cc 66 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 0f 1f 00 90 [ 438.976947] RSP: 0018:ffff888124a53610 EFLAGS: 00010286 [ 438.977446] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff888119d56de0 RCX: 0000000000000000 [ 438.978090] RDX: ffff88852c828700 RSI: ffff88852c81b3c0 RDI: ffff88852c81b3c0 [ 438.978721] RBP: ffff888120fa0e88 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: ffff888124a534b0 [ 438.979353] R10: 0000000000000001 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: ffff888119d56de0 [ 438.979979] R13: ffff888120fa0ec0 R14: ffff888120fa0ee8 R15: ffff888119d56de0 [ 438.980607] FS: 00007fe6dcc0f800(0000) GS:ffff88852c800000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 438.983984] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 438.984544] CR2: 00000000004275e0 CR3: 0000000186982001 CR4: 0000000000372eb0 [ 438.985205] DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 [ 438.985842] DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 [ 438.986507] Call Trace: [ 438.986799] <TASK> [ 438.987070] ? __warn+0x7d/0x110 [ 438.987426] ? refcount_warn_saturate+0xfb/0x110 [ 438.987877] ? report_bug+0x17d/0x190 [ 438.988261] ? prb_read_valid+0x17/0x20 [ 438.988659] ? handle_bug+0x53/0x90 [ 438.989054] ? exc_invalid_op+0x14/0x70 [ 438.989458] ? asm_exc_invalid_op+0x16/0x20 [ 438.989883] ? refcount_warn_saturate+0xfb/0x110 [ 438.990348] mlx5_del_flow_rules+0x2f7/0x340 [mlx5_core] [ 438.990932] __mlx5_eswitch_del_rule+0x49/0x170 [mlx5_core] [ 438.991519] ? mlx5_lag_is_sriov+0x3c/0x50 [mlx5_core] [ 438.992054] ? xas_load+0x9/0xb0 [ 438.992407] mlx5e_tc_rule_unoffload+0x45/0xe0 [mlx5_core] [ 438.993037] mlx5e_tc_del_fdb_flow+0x2a6/0x2e0 [mlx5_core] [ 438.993623] mlx5e_flow_put+0x29/0x60 [mlx5_core] [ 438.994161] mlx5e_delete_flower+0x261/0x390 [mlx5_core] [ 438.994728] tc_setup_cb_destroy+0xb9/0x190 [ 438.995150] fl_hw_destroy_filter+0x94/0xc0 [cls_flower] [ 438.995650] fl_change+0x11a4/0x13c0 [cls_flower] [ 438.996105] tc_new_tfilter+0x347/0xbc0 [ 438.996503] ? __ ---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-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:>= 5.1, < 6.1.119>= 6.2, < 6.6.63>= 6.7, < 6.11.10= 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 6.1.119 / 6.6.63 / 6.11.10 or later
Fixed in 6.1.1196.6.636.11.10
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel version 6.1.119 or later (6.1.x), 6.6.63 or later (6.2-6.6.x), 6.11.10 or later (6.7-6.11.x), or 6.12.1 or later (6.12.x)

  1. Identify the current running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Determine the appropriate fixed kernel version based on your current version: for 6.1.x series upgrade to >= 6.1.119, for 6.2.x-6.6.x series upgrade to >= 6.6.63, for 6.7.x-6.11.x series upgrade to >= 6.11.10, for 6.12.x upgrade to a version containing the fix (6.12.1 or later if available)
  3. Update the kernel package using your distribution's package manager (e.g., `apt-get update && apt-get install linux-image-<version>` for Debian/Ubuntu, or `yum update kernel` for RHEL/CentOS)
  4. Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  5. Verify the running kernel version with `uname -r` to confirm the update was successful
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could introduce compatibility changes with third-party kernel modules; ensure mlx5_core driver is compatible with the target kernel version

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-2024-53121 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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