CVE-2024-39474

Kernel panic via broken no-fail allocation

Published Jul 5, 2024 · Updated May 11, 2026

NULL pointer dereference in affected Linux kernel versions allows local users to trigger a kernel panic during memory pressure. vm_area_alloc_pages stops on a pending fatal signal even when __GFP_NOFAIL is set, allowing kvcalloc to return NULL to an EROFS caller that assumes success. Triggering requires local low-privileged access and an OOM kill during the no-fail allocation; the demonstrated consequence is a host-wide kernel panic.

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

NULL pointer dereference in affected Linux kernel versions allows local users to trigger a kernel panic during memory pressure. vm_area_alloc_pages stops on a pending fatal signal even when __GFP_NOFAIL is set, allowing kvcalloc to return NULL to an EROFS caller that assumes success. Triggering requires local low-privileged access and an OOM kill during the no-fail allocation; the demonstrated consequence is a host-wide kernel panic.

The record

CVE
CVE-2024-39474
Published
Jul 5, 2024
Updated
May 11, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jul 5, 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=5.17
  2. Affected versionversion=9376130c390a76fac2788a5d6e1a149017b4ab50 <198a80833e3421d4c9820a4ae907120adf598c91
  3. Affected versionversion=9376130c390a76fac2788a5d6e1a149017b4ab50 <758678b65164b2158fc1de411092191cb3c394d4
  4. Affected versionversion=9376130c390a76fac2788a5d6e1a149017b4ab50 <8e0545c83d672750632f46e3f9ad95c48c91a0fc
  5. Affected versionversion=9376130c390a76fac2788a5d6e1a149017b4ab50 <c55d3564ad25ce87ab7cc6af251f9574faebd8da

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=5.17; version=9376130c390a76fac2788a5d6e1a149017b4ab50 <198a80833e3421d4c9820a4ae907120adf598c91; version=9376130c390a76fac2788a5d6e1a149017b4ab50 <758678b65164b2158fc1de411092191cb3c394d4; version=9376130c390a76fac2788a5d6e1a149017b4ab50 <8e0545c83d672750632f46e3f9ad95c48c91a0fc; version=9376130c390a76fac2788a5d6e1a149017b4ab50 <c55d3564ad25ce87ab7cc6af251f9574faebd8da

Published CVSS scores

5.5CanonicalCVSS: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

T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

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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