Kernel use-after-free via unloaded vport representor access
Published Jan 15, 2025 · Updated Aug 5, 2026
Use-after-free in the Linux mlx5e driver allows local users to access freed kernel memory while a vport representor is unloaded. During unregister_netdev, the restore path dereferences rpriv->netdev or walks rpriv->tc_ht after mlx5e_rep_priv is freed, without first checking REP_LOADED. Reachability requires mlx5 eSwitch representor functionality and driver unload; published sources document no reliable exploit beyond the invalid freed-memory access.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in the Linux mlx5e driver allows local users to access freed kernel memory while a vport representor is unloaded. During unregister_netdev, the restore path dereferences rpriv->netdev or walks rpriv->tc_ht after mlx5e_rep_priv is freed, without first checking REP_LOADED. Reachability requires mlx5 eSwitch representor functionality and driver unload; published sources document no reliable exploit beyond the invalid freed-memory access.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-57801
- Published
- Jan 15, 2025
- Updated
- Aug 5, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-416
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jan 15, 2025CVE 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=6.6
- Affected versionversion=d1569537a837d66620aa7ffc2bddf918e902f227 <3e45dd1622a2c1a83c11bf42fdd8c1810123d6c0
- Affected versionversion=d1569537a837d66620aa7ffc2bddf918e902f227 <47c78d3fc26e38ab805613a0f592dc8a820c7c64
- Affected versionversion=d1569537a837d66620aa7ffc2bddf918e902f227 <5a03b368562a7ff5f5f1f63b5adf8309cbdbd5be
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
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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