medium CVSS 5.9

CVE-2024-26864·Kernel vulnerability

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tcp: Fix refcnt handling in __inet_hash_connect(). syzbot reported a warning in sk_nulls_del_node_init_rcu(). The commit 66b60b0c8c4a ("dccp/tcp: Unhash sk from ehash for tb2 alloc failure after check_estalblished().") tried to fix an issue that an unconnected socket occupies an ehash entry when bhash2 allocation fails. In such a case, we need to revert changes done by check_established(), which does not hold refcnt when inserting socket into ehash. So, to revert the change, we need to __sk_nulls_add_node_rcu() instead of sk_nulls_add_node_rcu(). Otherwise, sock_put() will cause refcnt underflow and leak the socket. [0]: WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 23948 at include/net/sock.h:799 sk_nulls_del_node_init_rcu+0x166/0x1a0 include/net/sock.h:799 Modules linked in: CPU: 0 PID: 23948 Comm: syz-executor.2 Not tainted 6.8.0-rc6-syzkaller-00159-gc055fc00c07b #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 01/25/2024 RIP: 0010:sk_nulls_del_node_init_rcu+0x166/0x1a0 include/net/sock.h:799 Code: e8 7f 71 c6 f7 83 fb 02 7c 25 e8 35 6d c6 f7 4d 85 f6 0f 95 c0 5b 41 5c 41 5d 41 5e 41 5f 5d c3 cc cc cc cc e8 1b 6d c6 f7 90 <0f> 0b 90 eb b2 e8 10 6d c6 f7 4c 89 e7 be 04 00 00 00 e8 63 e7 d2 RSP: 0018:ffffc900032d7848 EFLAGS: 00010246 RAX: ffffffff89cd0035 RBX: 0000000000000001 RCX: 0000000000040000 RDX: ffffc90004de1000 RSI: 000000000003ffff RDI: 0000000000040000 RBP: 1ffff1100439ac26 R08: ffffffff89ccffe3 R09: 1ffff1100439ac28 R10: dffffc0000000000 R11: ffffed100439ac29 R12: ffff888021cd6140 R13: dffffc0000000000 R14: ffff88802a9bf5c0 R15: ffff888021cd6130 FS: 00007f3b823f16c0(0000) GS:ffff8880b9400000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007f3b823f0ff8 CR3: 000000004674a000 CR4: 00000000003506f0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: <TASK> __inet_hash_connect+0x140f/0x20b0 net/ipv4/inet_hashtables.c:1139 dccp_v6_connect+0xcb9/0x1480 net/dccp/ipv6.c:956 __inet_stream_connect+0x262/0xf30 net/ipv4/af_inet.c:678 inet_stream_connect+0x65/0xa0 net/ipv4/af_inet.c:749 __sys_connect_file net/socket.c:2048 [inline] __sys_connect+0x2df/0x310 net/socket.c:2065 __do_sys_connect net/socket.c:2075 [inline] __se_sys_connect net/socket.c:2072 [inline] __x64_sys_connect+0x7a/0x90 net/socket.c:2072 do_syscall_64+0xf9/0x240 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x6f/0x77 RIP: 0033:0x7f3b8167dda9 Code: 28 00 00 00 75 05 48 83 c4 28 c3 e8 e1 20 00 00 90 48 89 f8 48 89 f7 48 89 d6 48 89 ca 4d 89 c2 4d 89 c8 4c 8b 4c 24 08 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 c7 c1 b0 ff ff ff f7 d8 64 89 01 48 RSP: 002b:00007f3b823f10c8 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 000000000000002a RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007f3b817abf80 RCX: 00007f3b8167dda9 RDX: 000000000000001c RSI: 0000000020000040 RDI: 0000000000000003 RBP: 00007f3b823f1120 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 0000000000000001 R13: 000000000000000b R14: 00007f3b817abf80 R15: 00007ffd3beb57b8 </TASK>

Severity
medium
Software
Kernel
Fixed in
6.8.2
Published
2024-04-17

Affected versions

From: 6.8

Until: 6.8.2

Fixed in: 6.8.2

How to fix this CVE

Update your Linux kernel to version 6.8.2 or later to resolve a reference counting bug in the TCP connection hash table management. This vulnerability can cause socket reference count underflow and memory leaks when bhash2 allocation fails during connection establishment. Ensure your system receives the latest kernel patches to prevent potential denial of service conditions.

sudo dnf update kernel kernel-devel

Defensia detects this vulnerability

How to check if you are affected

  1. Check installed kernel version: uname -r (vulnerable if output shows 6.8.0, 6.8.1, or 6.8.0-rc versions)
  2. Verify the vulnerable kernel modules are loaded: grep tcp_ipv4 /proc/modules || echo 'Module not loaded'
  3. Search system logs for refcnt warnings: sudo grep -i 'sk_nulls_del_node_init_rcu\|refcnt' /var/log/kern.log /var/log/syslog 2>/dev/null | head -20
  4. After patching, confirm new kernel is active: uname -r (should show 6.8.2 or later), then verify no warnings appear in dmesg: sudo dmesg | grep -i 'sk_nulls\|refcnt' | tail -5

FAQ

What is CVE-2024-26864?

This vulnerability is a reference counting bug in the Linux kernel's TCP connection establishment code that occurs when bhash2 (bind hash table 2) memory allocation fails. The bug causes incorrect socket refcount handling, leading to underflow and socket leaks.

Is CVE-2024-26864 being actively exploited?

No, there are no reports of active exploitation or public exploits available. This vulnerability requires specific conditions (bhash2 allocation failure during connection setup) to trigger.

What versions of Kernel are affected by CVE-2024-26864?

Linux kernel versions 6.8.0 through 6.8.1 are vulnerable. The fix was included starting with kernel 6.8.2.

How do I check if my server is vulnerable to CVE-2024-26864?

Run: uname -r — if the output shows 6.8.0 or 6.8.1, your system is vulnerable and requires immediate patching.

Does Defensia detect CVE-2024-26864?

Yes — Defensia's CVE advisory scanner compares installed package versions against the NVD database. If the Linux kernel is installed on a monitored server, CVE-2024-26864 will appear in your dashboard with remediation steps.

Related Kernel CVEs

CVE-2026-100075CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: RDMA/srpt: Fix srpt_alloc_rw_ctxs() unwind counters When srpt_alloc_rw_ctxs() fails partway through a multi-buffer indirect descriptor, the unwind path destroys RDMA contexts but leaves stale n_rw_ctx and n_rdma values (and a dangling rw_ctxs pointer). Later sq_wr_avail accounting in srpt_queue_response() or srpt_write_pending() can then subtract the wrong number of send queue credits. Reset the counters and clear rw_ctxs after freeing the heap allocation before returning an error.
CVE-2026-64397CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ksmbd: serialize QUERY_DIRECTORY requests per file smb2_query_dir() stores a pointer to its stack-allocated private data in the ksmbd_file readdir_data. Concurrent QUERY_DIRECTORY requests using the same file handle can overwrite this pointer while an iterate_dir() callback is still using it, resulting in a stack use-after-free. Add a per-file mutex and hold it while accessing the shared directory enumeration state. The lock covers scan restart, dot entry state, readdir_data setup and iteration, and response construction. This prevents another request from replacing readdir_data.private before the current request has finished using it and also serializes the shared file position.
CVE-2026-64399CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ksmbd: add permission checks for FSCTL_DUPLICATE_EXTENTS_TO_FILE The FSCTL_DUPLICATE_EXTENTS_TO_FILE arm of smb2_ioctl() overwrites the destination file's data via vfs_clone_file_range() with neither the share-level KSMBD_TREE_CONN_FLAG_WRITABLE check nor a per-handle fp->daccess check that the other write-bearing arms carry. A client can overwrite destination data on a read-only share, or from a handle opened with only FILE_WRITE_ATTRIBUTES (which still yields an FMODE_WRITE filp). FILE_WRITE_ATTRIBUTES-only destination handle overwrote the file's data via the clone. Add both checks, matching the FSCTL_SET_SPARSE permission fix; require FILE_WRITE_DATA since this writes data.
CVE-2026-64066CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfs: Fix netfs_read_to_pagecache() to pause on subreq failure Fix netfs_read_to_pagecache() so that it pauses the generation of new subrequests if an already-issued subrequest fails.
CVE-2026-52924CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sctp: purge outqueue on stale COOKIE-ECHO handling sctp_stream_update() is only invoked when the association is moved into COOKIE_WAIT during association setup/reconfiguration. In this path, the outbound stream scheduler state (stream->out_curr) is expected to be clean, since no user data should have been transmitted yet unless the state machine has already partially progressed. However, a corner case exists in sctp_sf_do_5_2_6_stale(): when a Stale Cookie ERROR is received, the association is rolled back from COOKIE_ECHOED to COOKIE_WAIT. In this scenario, user data may already have been queued and even bundled with the COOKIE-ECHO chunk. During the rollback, sctp_stream_update() frees the old stream table and installs a new one, but it does not invalidate stream->out_curr. As a result, out_curr may still point to a freed sctp_stream_out entry from the previous stream state. Later, SCTP scheduler dequeue paths (FCFS, RR, PRIO, etc.) rely on stream->out_curr->ext, which can lead to use-after-free once the old stream state has been released via sctp_stream_free(). This results in crashes such as (reported by Yuqi): BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in sctp_sched_fcfs_dequeue+0x13a/0x140 Read of size 8 at addr ff1100004d4d3208 by task mini_poc/9312 CPU: 1 UID: 1001 PID: 9312 Comm: mini_poc Not tainted 7.1.0-rc1-00305-gbd3a4795d574 #5 PREEMPT(full) sctp_sched_fcfs_dequeue+0x13a/0x140 sctp_outq_flush+0x1603/0x33e0 sctp_do_sm+0x31c9/0x5d30 sctp_assoc_bh_rcv+0x392/0x6f0 sctp_inq_push+0x1db/0x270 sctp_rcv+0x138d/0x3c10 Fix this by fully purging the association outqueue when handling the Stale Cookie case. This ensures all pending transmit and retransmit state is dropped, and any scheduler cached pointers are invalidated, making it safe to rebuild stream state during COOKIE_WAIT restart. Updating only stream->out_curr would be insufficient, since queued and retransmittable data would still reference the old stream state and trigger later use-after-free in dequeue paths.

References

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