CVE-2024-35838

Service interruption via unreleased mac80211 station links

Published May 17, 2024 · Updated May 11, 2026

Memory leak in mac80211 in the Linux kernel allows local users to exhaust kernel memory during station teardown on affected systems. sta_info_free skips allocated link pointers absent from valid_links, leaving those station-link objects unreleased instead of passing them to sta_remove_link. The condition arises when a station is removed before newly added links become valid, including while connecting to a multi-link AP; repeated triggering can interrupt service.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.22%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Memory leak in mac80211 in the Linux kernel allows local users to exhaust kernel memory during station teardown on affected systems. sta_info_free skips allocated link pointers absent from valid_links, leaving those station-link objects unreleased instead of passing them to sta_remove_link. The condition arises when a station is removed before newly added links become valid, including while connecting to a multi-link AP; repeated triggering can interrupt service.

The record

CVE
CVE-2024-35838
Published
May 17, 2024
Updated
May 11, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-401, T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 17, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=6.0
  2. Affected versionversion=cb71f1d136a635decf43c3b502ee34fb05640fcd <49aaeb8c539b1633b3bd7c2df131ec578aa1eae1
  3. Affected versionversion=cb71f1d136a635decf43c3b502ee34fb05640fcd <587c5892976108674bbe61a8ff659de279318034
  4. Affected versionversion=cb71f1d136a635decf43c3b502ee34fb05640fcd <b01a74b3ca6fd51b62c67733ba7c3280fa6c5d26
  5. Affected versionversion=cb71f1d136a635decf43c3b502ee34fb05640fcd <e04bf59bdba0fa45d52160be676114e16be855a9

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=6.0; version=cb71f1d136a635decf43c3b502ee34fb05640fcd <49aaeb8c539b1633b3bd7c2df131ec578aa1eae1; version=cb71f1d136a635decf43c3b502ee34fb05640fcd <587c5892976108674bbe61a8ff659de279318034; version=cb71f1d136a635decf43c3b502ee34fb05640fcd <b01a74b3ca6fd51b62c67733ba7c3280fa6c5d26; version=cb71f1d136a635decf43c3b502ee34fb05640fcd <e04bf59bdba0fa45d52160be676114e16be855a9

Published CVSS scores

5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

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.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-401Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime
T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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