Kernel crash via poisoned eventfs child list
Published Sep 18, 2024 · Updated May 23, 2026
A null-pointer dereference in affected Linux kernel eventfs releases allows local users to crash the kernel through concurrent tracefs activity. eventfs_remove_rec removes ei_child with list_del(), poisoning the link while eventfs_iterate can still traverse the SRCU-protected list and dereference ei_child->is_freed. Local access with permission to add and remove kprobe events while enumerating their eventfs directory is required, and successful exploitation causes a kernel panic rather than data disclosure or modification.
Summary
What happened
A null-pointer dereference in affected Linux kernel eventfs releases allows local users to crash the kernel through concurrent tracefs activity. eventfs_remove_rec removes ei_child with list_del(), poisoning the link while eventfs_iterate can still traverse the SRCU-protected list and dereference ei_child->is_freed. Local access with permission to add and remove kprobe events while enumerating their eventfs directory is required, and successful exploitation causes a kernel panic rather than data disclosure or modification.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-46785
- Published
- Sep 18, 2024
- Updated
- May 23, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-476, T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 18, 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=43aa6f97c2d03a52c1ddb86768575fc84344bdbb <d2603279c7d645bf0d11fa253b23f1ab48fc8d3c
- Affected versionversion=43aa6f97c2d03a52c1ddb86768575fc84344bdbb <f579d17a86448779f9642ad8baca6e3036a8e2d6
- Affected versionversion=5a43badefe0eccca0c26144c0a44b8d417ce8103
- Affected versionversion=5dfb04100326f70e3b2d2872c2476ed20b804837 <05e08297c3c298d8ec28e5a5adb55840312dd87e
- Affected versionversion=6.6.18 <6.6.51
- Affected versionversion=6.7.6 <6.8
- Affected versionversion=6.8
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
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
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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