Kernel memory disclosure via ACPI type confusion
Published Oct 21, 2024 · Updated Aug 5, 2026
Type confusion in the Linux kernel allows local users to disclose kernel memory or crash the system through an ACPI sysfs read. description_show() treats every firmware _STR result as a buffer and passes incompatible object fields as a pointer and length to UTF-16 conversion. A local user or sandbox with the affected sysfs tree mounted can repeatedly read the world-readable description attribute, exposing up to a page of kernel data or triggering an oops or panic.
Summary
What happened
Type confusion in the Linux kernel allows local users to disclose kernel memory or crash the system through an ACPI sysfs read. description_show() treats every firmware _STR result as a buffer and passes incompatible object fields as a pointer and length to UTF-16 conversion. A local user or sandbox with the affected sysfs tree mounted can repeatedly read the world-readable description attribute, exposing up to a page of kernel data or triggering an oops or panic.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-49860
- Published
- Oct 21, 2024
- Updated
- Aug 5, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-843, T1005
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Oct 21, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 5, 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=3.7
- Affected versionversion=d1efe3c324ead77d3f6cd85093b50f6bd2e17aba <0cdfb9178a3bba843c95c2117c82c15f1a64b9ce
- Affected versionversion=d1efe3c324ead77d3f6cd85093b50f6bd2e17aba <2364b6af90c6b6d8a4783e0d3481ca80af699554
- Affected versionversion=d1efe3c324ead77d3f6cd85093b50f6bd2e17aba <4b081991c4363e072e1748efed0bbec8a77daba5
- Affected versionversion=d1efe3c324ead77d3f6cd85093b50f6bd2e17aba <4bb1e7d027413835b086aed35bc3f0713bc0f72b
- Affected versionversion=d1efe3c324ead77d3f6cd85093b50f6bd2e17aba <5c8d007c14aefc3f2ddf71e4c40713733dc827be
- Affected versionversion=d1efe3c324ead77d3f6cd85093b50f6bd2e17aba <92fd5209fc014405f63a7db79802ca4b01dc0c05
- Affected versionversion=d1efe3c324ead77d3f6cd85093b50f6bd2e17aba <f0921ecd4ddc14646bb5511f49db4d7d3b0829f0
- Affected versionversion=d1efe3c324ead77d3f6cd85093b50f6bd2e17aba <f51e5a88f2e7224858b261546cf6b3037dfb1323
- Affected versionversion=d1efe3c324ead77d3f6cd85093b50f6bd2e17aba <f51f711d36e61fbb87c67b524fd200e05172668d
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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