Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2024-57886

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-01-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.12.9 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: mm/damon/core: fix new damon_target objects leaks on damon_commit_targets() Patch series "mm/damon/core: fix memory leaks and ignored inputs from damon_commit_ctx()". Due to two bugs in damon_commit_targets() and damon_commit_schemes(), which are called from damon_commit_ctx(), some user inputs can be ignored, and some mmeory objects can be leaked. Fix those. Note that only DAMON sysfs interface users are affected. Other DAMON core API user modules that more focused more on simple and dedicated production usages, including DAMON_RECLAIM and DAMON_LRU_SORT are not using the buggy function in the way, so not affected. This patch (of 2): When new DAMON targets are added via damon_commit_targets(), the newly created targets are not deallocated when updating the internal data (damon_commit_target()) is failed. Worse yet, even if the setup is successfully done, the new target is not linked to the context. Hence, the new targets are always leaked regardless of the internal data setup failure. Fix the leaks.

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:>= 6.11, < 6.12.9= 6.13

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 6.12.9 or later
Fixed in 6.12.9
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 6.12.9 or later (or 6.14+)

  1. Apply the kernel patch from commit 3647932d0b3e609c762c55e8f9fe10a09776e0a7 to the mm/damon/core.c file
  2. The patch fixes damon_commit_targets() to properly deallocate newly created target objects when damon_commit_target() fails
  3. The patch also fixes the issue where successfully set up new targets are not linked to the context, causing them to leak
  4. Rebuild the kernel with the fix applied
  5. Alternatively, upgrade the kernel to version 6.12.9 or later, or to version 6.14 or later
Caveat Kernel recompilation required; this is a standard upstream kernel fix with no expected breaking changes for users

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-2024-57886 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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