Local kernel crash via stale mlocked page flag
Published Dec 2, 2024 · Updated May 11, 2026
Denial of service in Linux kernel 5.18 allows local users to crash the kernel through KVM virtual-machine teardown. The mm/page_alloc free path leaves the mlocked page flag set when free_page() bypasses page_remove_rmap(), so free_pages_prepare() detects an invalid page state. Low-privileged local access and the ability to create and destroy a KVM virtual machine are required; the demonstrated consequence is a kernel crash without data disclosure or modification.
Summary
What happened
Denial of service in Linux kernel 5.18 allows local users to crash the kernel through KVM virtual-machine teardown. The mm/page_alloc free path leaves the mlocked page flag set when free_page() bypasses page_remove_rmap(), so free_pages_prepare() detects an invalid page state. Low-privileged local access and the ability to create and destroy a KVM virtual machine are required; the demonstrated consequence is a kernel crash without data disclosure or modification.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-53105
- Published
- Dec 2, 2024
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Dec 2, 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?
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- Affected versionversion=5.18
- Affected versionversion=b109b87050df5438ee745b2bddfa3587970025bb <2521664c1fc0fcea825ef0b4d8e2dfb622bc0f9a
- Affected versionversion=b109b87050df5438ee745b2bddfa3587970025bb <66edc3a5894c74f8887c8af23b97593a0dd0df4d
- Affected versionversion=b109b87050df5438ee745b2bddfa3587970025bb <7873d11911cd1d21e25c354eb130d8c3b5cb3ca5
- Affected versionversion=b109b87050df5438ee745b2bddfa3587970025bb <81ad32b87eb91b627a4b0d8760434e5fac4b993a
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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