System hang via hugetlb vmemmap lock inversion
Published May 1, 2024 · Updated May 11, 2026
Deadlock in Linux kernel branches before 6.1.88, 6.6.29, 6.8.8, and 6.9 allows local users to hang the system. The memory-failure path restores hugetlb vmemmap while holding pcp_batch_high_lock, then acquires cpu_hotplug_lock in the reverse order used by CPU bring-up. Affected code begins at 5.18; reachability requires local privileges, hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap, and a hard-offline request.
Summary
What happened
Deadlock in Linux kernel branches before 6.1.88, 6.6.29, 6.8.8, and 6.9 allows local users to hang the system. The memory-failure path restores hugetlb vmemmap while holding pcp_batch_high_lock, then acquires cpu_hotplug_lock in the reverse order used by CPU bring-up. Affected code begins at 5.18; reachability requires local privileges, hugetlb_optimize_vmemmap, and a hard-offline request.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-26987
- Published
- May 1, 2024
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 1, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=5.18
- Affected versionversion=a6b40850c442bf996e729e1d441d3dbc37cea171 <1983184c22dd84a4d95a71e5c6775c2638557dc7
- Affected versionversion=a6b40850c442bf996e729e1d441d3dbc37cea171 <49955b24002dc16a0ae2e83a57a2a6c863a1845c
- Affected versionversion=a6b40850c442bf996e729e1d441d3dbc37cea171 <5ef7ba2799a3b5ed292b8f6407376e2c25ef002e
- Affected versionversion=a6b40850c442bf996e729e1d441d3dbc37cea171 <882e1180c83f5b75bae03d0ccc31ccedfe5159de
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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