Kernel crash via uninitialized automatic cleanup pointers
Published Dec 28, 2024 · Updated May 11, 2026
Missing initialization in Linux kernel 6.12 through 6.12.1 allows local users to crash the kernel through thermal testing operations. In drivers/thermal/testing/zone.c, early returns from tt_add_tz, tt_del_tz, tt_zone_add_trip, and tt_zone_register_tz pass uninitialized __free pointers to cleanup handlers. The debugfs-based thermal testing facility must be present and locally exercised; the documented consequence is a kernel crash, not data disclosure or modification.
Summary
What happened
Missing initialization in Linux kernel 6.12 through 6.12.1 allows local users to crash the kernel through thermal testing operations. In drivers/thermal/testing/zone.c, early returns from tt_add_tz, tt_del_tz, tt_zone_add_trip, and tt_zone_register_tz pass uninitialized __free pointers to cleanup handlers. The debugfs-based thermal testing facility must be present and locally exercised; the documented consequence is a kernel crash, not data disclosure or modification.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-56676
- Published
- Dec 28, 2024
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-909, T1529
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Dec 28, 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=6.12
- Affected versionversion=f6a034f2df426e279f1ecad53626bab80c04796a <0104dcdaad3a7afd141e79a5fb817a92ada910ac
- Affected versionversion=f6a034f2df426e279f1ecad53626bab80c04796a <526c132124a62be486bad1701f7e8e92212ccec6
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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