Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2024-56531

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-12-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.19.325 / 5.4.287 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: ALSA: caiaq: Use snd_card_free_when_closed() at disconnection The USB disconnect callback is supposed to be short and not too-long waiting. OTOH, the current code uses snd_card_free() at disconnection, but this waits for the close of all used fds, hence it can take long. It eventually blocks the upper layer USB ioctls, which may trigger a soft lockup. An easy workaround is to replace snd_card_free() with snd_card_free_when_closed(). This variant returns immediately while the release of resources is done asynchronously by the card device release at the last close. This patch also splits the code to the disconnect and the free phases; the former is called immediately at the USB disconnect callback while the latter is called from the card destructor.

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:>= 2.6.22, < 4.19.325>= 4.20, < 5.4.287>= 5.5, < 5.10.231>= 5.11, < 5.15.174>= 5.16, < 6.1.120>= 6.2, < 6.6.64>= 6.7, < 6.11.11>= 6.12, < 6.12.2

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 4.19.325 / 5.4.287 / 5.10.231 or later
Fixed in 4.19.3255.4.2875.10.231
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel version 4.19.325+, 5.4.287+, 5.10.231+, or 5.15.174+ (or any later stable release)

  1. Identify the current running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Download or obtain the appropriate kernel upgrade package for your distribution that includes the fix version (4.19.325, 5.4.287, 5.10.231, or 5.15.174 or later)
  3. For production systems, test the kernel upgrade in a staging environment first
  4. Apply the kernel upgrade using your distribution's package manager (e.g., `apt-get upgrade`, `yum update`, or `dnf upgrade`)
  5. Reboot the system into the new kernel
  6. Verify the new kernel version is running with `uname -r` and confirm it includes the fix (commit 237f3faf0177bdde728fa3106d730d806436aa4d)
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system downtime for reboot; ensure compatibility with existing system configurations and installed modules 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
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-56531 — 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-2024-56531 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
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