System hang via recursive LAG lock acquisition
Published Jun 19, 2024 · Updated May 11, 2026
Improper locking in affected Linux kernel builds allows local users to hang systems through an mlx5 LAG mode change. When an IB representor reload fails, the eswitch error path also unloads Ethernet representors and mlx5_lag_remove_netdev attempts to reacquire the LAG lock already held by mlx5_lag_disable_change. Reachability requires local permission to reconfigure an mlx5 eswitch and a failed slave IB representor load; the resulting deadlock interrupts the affected host.
Summary
What happened
Improper locking in affected Linux kernel builds allows local users to hang systems through an mlx5 LAG mode change. When an IB representor reload fails, the eswitch error path also unloads Ethernet representors and mlx5_lag_remove_netdev attempts to reacquire the LAG lock already held by mlx5_lag_disable_change. Reachability requires local permission to reconfigure an mlx5 eswitch and a failed slave IB representor load; the resulting deadlock interrupts the affected host.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-38557
- Published
- Jun 19, 2024
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-667, T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jun 19, 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=5.15
- Affected versionversion=598fe77df855feeeca9dfda2ffe622ac7724e5c3 <0f06228d4a2dcc1fca5b3ddb0eefa09c05b102c4
- Affected versionversion=598fe77df855feeeca9dfda2ffe622ac7724e5c3 <0f320f28f54b1b269a755be2e3fb3695e0b80b07
- Affected versionversion=598fe77df855feeeca9dfda2ffe622ac7724e5c3 <e93fc8d959e56092e2eca1e5511c2d2f0ad6807a
- Affected versionversion=598fe77df855feeeca9dfda2ffe622ac7724e5c3 <f03c714a0fdd1f93101a929d0e727c28a66383fc
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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