Service hang via incomplete vhost worker cleanup
Published Jul 30, 2024 · Updated May 11, 2026
Deadlock in the Linux kernel vhost_task subsystem allows local users to hang worker operations by sending SIGKILL to an active worker. When a vhost task receives SIGKILL, vhost_task_fn leaves the worker lingering without marking it killed, detaching its virtqueues, or running queued exit work. A local low-privileged user able to signal an active vhost worker can stall device teardown and interrupt vhost-backed I/O until the device closes.
Summary
What happened
Deadlock in the Linux kernel vhost_task subsystem allows local users to hang worker operations by sending SIGKILL to an active worker. When a vhost task receives SIGKILL, vhost_task_fn leaves the worker lingering without marking it killed, detaching its virtqueues, or running queued exit work. A local low-privileged user able to signal an active vhost worker can stall device teardown and interrupt vhost-backed I/O until the device closes.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-42135
- Published
- Jul 30, 2024
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-833, T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jul 30, 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=6.4
- Affected versionversion=f9010dbdce911ee1f1af1398a24b1f9f992e0080 <abe067dc3a662eef7d5cddbbc41ed50a0b68b0af
- Affected versionversion=f9010dbdce911ee1f1af1398a24b1f9f992e0080 <db5247d9bf5c6ade9fd70b4e4897441e0269b233
- Affected versionversion=f9010dbdce911ee1f1af1398a24b1f9f992e0080 <dec987fe2df670827eb53b97c9552ed8dfc63ad4
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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