mm, slub: do not call do_slab_free for kfence object
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- High
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 1 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm, slub: do not call do_slab_free for kfence object In 782f8906f805 the freeing of kfence objects was moved from deep inside do_slab_free to the wrapper functions outside. This is a nice change, but unfortunately it missed one spot in __kmem_cache_free_bulk. This results in a crash like this: BUG skbuff_head_cache (Tainted: G S B E ): Padding overwritten. 0xffff88907fea0f00-0xffff88907fea0fff @offset=3840 slab_err (mm/slub.c:1129) free_to_partial_list (mm/slub.c:? mm/slub.c:4036) slab_pad_check (mm/slub.c:864 mm/slub.c:1290) check_slab (mm/slub.c:?) free_to_partial_list (mm/slub.c:3171 mm/slub.c:4036) kmem_cache_alloc_bulk (mm/slub.c:? mm/slub.c:4495 mm/slub.c:4586 mm/slub.c:4635) napi_build_skb (net/core/skbuff.c:348 net/core/skbuff.c:527 net/core/skbuff.c:549) All the other callers to do_slab_free appear to be ok. Add a kfence_free check in __kmem_cache_free_bulk to avoid the crash.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 6.8 and later | 6.10.5, 6.11 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 6.8 and later Fixed in 6.10.5, 6.11 Patch available CNA
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.10.5, 6.11
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
Not affected: 3 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2024-44973
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-p79g-j2j8-9wqw
References
More Linux Kernel vulnerabilities
- TI-2025-26358 tls: fix handling of zero-length records on the rx_list KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-38352 netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
Sources
- CVE-2024-44973 · CVE Program
- CVE-2024-44973 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-p79g-j2j8-9wqw · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2024-44973 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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