Private-key disclosure via uncleared temporary buffers
Published Jul 30, 2024 · Updated May 11, 2026
Information disclosure in the Linux kernel allows local users to recover private-key material from reused kernel memory buffers. The unaligned-key paths in crypto/aead.c and crypto/cipher.c free aligned temporary key buffers without first zeroing their contents. High privileges and favorable memory-reuse conditions are required, and the reported consequence is limited to disclosure of residual private-key material.
Summary
What happened
Information disclosure in the Linux kernel allows local users to recover private-key material from reused kernel memory buffers. The unaligned-key paths in crypto/aead.c and crypto/cipher.c free aligned temporary key buffers without first zeroing their contents. High privileges and favorable memory-reuse conditions are required, and the reported consequence is limited to disclosure of residual private-key material.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-42229
- Published
- Jul 30, 2024
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1552.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- admin
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=06817176784f620984200dc5d7cbe16984f7b262 <23e4099bdc3c8381992f9eb975c79196d6755210
- Affected versionversion=06817176784f620984200dc5d7cbe16984f7b262 <28c8d274848feba552e95c5c2a7e3cfe8f15c534
- Affected versionversion=06817176784f620984200dc5d7cbe16984f7b262 <71dd428615375e36523f4d4f7685ddd54113646d
- Affected versionversion=06817176784f620984200dc5d7cbe16984f7b262 <89b9b6fa4463daf820e6a5ef65c3b0c2db239513
- Affected versionversion=06817176784f620984200dc5d7cbe16984f7b262 <9db8c299a521813630fcb4154298cb60c37f3133
- Affected versionversion=06817176784f620984200dc5d7cbe16984f7b262 <b502d4a08875ea2b4ea5d5b28dc7c991c8b90cfb
- Affected versionversion=06817176784f620984200dc5d7cbe16984f7b262 <b716e9c3603ee95ed45e938fe47227d22cf3ec35
- Affected versionversion=06817176784f620984200dc5d7cbe16984f7b262 <f58679996a831754a356974376f248aa0af2eb8e
- Affected versionversion=2.6.23
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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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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