Kernel crash via invalid NUMA node handling
Published Jul 12, 2024 · Updated May 23, 2026
NULL-pointer dereference in Linux 6.6.70 through 6.6.71 and 6.8 allows local users to crash the kernel during NUMA initialization. memblock_validate_numa_coverage accepts MAX_NUMNODES from the ACPI SRAT, and memblock_set_node passes it onward until memmap_init dereferences missing node 64 data. The failure requires CONFIG_NUMA on an old x86 system whose SRAT covers only memory above 4 GB, producing a boot-time service interruption.
Summary
What happened
NULL-pointer dereference in Linux 6.6.70 through 6.6.71 and 6.8 allows local users to crash the kernel during NUMA initialization. memblock_validate_numa_coverage accepts MAX_NUMNODES from the ACPI SRAT, and memblock_set_node passes it onward until memmap_init dereferences missing node 64 data. The failure requires CONFIG_NUMA on an old x86 system whose SRAT covers only memory above 4 GB, producing a boot-time service interruption.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-40917
- Published
- Jul 12, 2024
- Updated
- May 23, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jul 12, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 23, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=6.6.70 <6.6.72
- Affected versionversion=6.8
- Affected versionversion=6fdc770506eb8379bf68a49d4e193c8364ac64e0 <4ddb7f966f3d06fcf1ba5ee298af6714b593584b
- Affected versionversion=ff6c3d81f2e86b63a3a530683f89ef393882782a <22f742b8f738918f683198a18ec3c691acda14c4
- Affected versionversion=ff6c3d81f2e86b63a3a530683f89ef393882782a <e0eec24e2e199873f43df99ec39773ad3af2bff7
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What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
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Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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