Kernel crash via unchecked sparsemem usage pointer
Published Jul 29, 2024 · Updated May 23, 2026
NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel memory management allows local users to crash the system during memory section deactivation. The pfn_section_valid() function reads ms->usage once but dereferences the result without first checking whether concurrent section_deactivate() cleared the pointer. Low-privileged local access and a successful race are required, and the bounded consequence is an availability-only kernel crash.
Summary
What happened
NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel memory management allows local users to crash the system during memory section deactivation. The pfn_section_valid() function reads ms->usage once but dereferences the result without first checking whether concurrent section_deactivate() cleared the pointer. Low-privileged local access and a successful race are required, and the bounded consequence is an availability-only kernel crash.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-41055
- Published
- Jul 29, 2024
- Updated
- May 23, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-476, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jul 29, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 23, 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=3a01daace71b521563c38bbbf874e14c3e58adb7
- Affected versionversion=5.10.210 <5.10.222
- Affected versionversion=5.15.149 <5.15.163
- Affected versionversion=5ec8e8ea8b7783fab150cf86404fc38cb4db8800 <82f0b6f041fad768c28b4ad05a683065412c226e
- Affected versionversion=5ec8e8ea8b7783fab150cf86404fc38cb4db8800 <adccdf702b4ea913ded5ff512239e382d7473b63
- Affected versionversion=6.1.76 <6.1.100
- Affected versionversion=6.6.15 <6.6.41
- Affected versionversion=6.7.3 <6.8
- Affected versionversion=6.8
- Affected versionversion=68ed9e33324021e9d6b798e9db00ca3093d2012a <941e816185661bf2b44b488565d09444ae316509
- Affected versionversion=70064241f2229f7ba7b9599a98f68d9142e81a97 <797323d1cf92d09b7a017cfec576d9babf99cde7
- Affected versionversion=90ad17575d26874287271127d43ef3c2af876cea <0100aeb8a12d51950418e685f879cc80cb8e5982
- Affected versionversion=b448de2459b6d62a53892487ab18b7d823ff0529 <bc17f2377818dca643a74499c3f5333500c90503
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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