# CVE-2024-26703: tracing/timerlat: Move hrtimer_init to timerlat_fd open()

> A local attacker can cause a kernel crash by opening and closing the timerlat file without reading it, requiring specific tracing options to be enabled.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 3 Apr 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-26703, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-26703, GHSA-mccq-9gc6-hm85, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-26703

## What is CVE-2024-26703?

CVE-2024-26703 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 3 Apr 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

tracing/timerlat: Move hrtimer_init to timerlat_fd open()

Currently, the timerlat's hrtimer is initialized at the first read of
timerlat_fd, and destroyed at close(). It works, but it causes an error
if the user program open() and close() the file without reading.

Here's an example:

 # echo NO_OSNOISE_WORKLOAD > /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/osnoise/options
 # echo timerlat > /sys/kernel/debug/tracing/current_tracer

 # cat <<EOF > ./timerlat_load.py
 # !/usr/bin/env python3

 timerlat_fd = open("/sys/kernel/tracing/osnoise/per_cpu/cpu0/timerlat_fd", 'r')
 timerlat_fd.close();
 EOF

 # ./taskset -c 0 ./timerlat_load.py
<BOOM>

 BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000010
 #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode
 #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page
 PGD 0 P4D 0
 Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI
 CPU: 1 PID: 2673 Comm: python3 Not tainted 6.6.13-200.fc39.x86_64 #1
 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.3-1.fc39 04/01/2014
 RIP: 0010:hrtimer_active+0xd/0x50
 Code: 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 0f 1f 40 00 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 f3 0f 1e fa 0f 1f 44 00 00 48 8b 57 30 <8b> 42 10 a8 01 74 09 f3 90 8b 42 10 a8 01 75 f7 80 7f 38 00 75 1d
 RSP: 0018:ffffb031009b7e10 EFLAGS: 00010286
 RAX: 000000000002db00 RBX: ffff9118f786db08 RCX: 0000000000000000
 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: ffff9117a0e64400 RDI: ffff9118f786db08
 RBP: ffff9118f786db80 R08: ffff9117a0ddd420 R09: ffff9117804d4f70
 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffff9118f786db08
 R13: ffff91178fdd5e20 R14: ffff9117840978c0 R15: 0000000000000000
 FS:  00007f2ffbab1740(0000) GS:ffff9118f7840000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
 CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
 CR2: 0000000000000010 CR3: 00000001b402e000 CR4: 0000000000750ee0
 PKRU: 55555554
 Call Trace:
  <TASK>
  ? __die+0x23/0x70
  ? page_fault_oops+0x171/0x4e0
  ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0x7f
  ? avc_has_extended_perms+0x237/0x520
  ? exc_page_fault+0x7f/0x180
  ? asm_exc_page_fault+0x26/0x30
  ? hrtimer_active+0xd/0x50
  hrtimer_cancel+0x15/0x40
  timerlat_fd_release+0x48/0xe0
  __fput+0xf5/0x290
  __x64_sys_close+0x3d/0x80
  do_syscall_64+0x60/0x90
  ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0x7f
  ? __x64_sys_ioctl+0x72/0xd0
  ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0x7f
  ? syscall_exit_to_user_mode+0x2b/0x40
  ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0x7f
  ? do_syscall_64+0x6c/0x90
  ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0x7f
  ? exit_to_user_mode_prepare+0x142/0x1f0
  ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0x7f
  ? syscall_exit_to_user_mode+0x2b/0x40
  ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0x7f
  ? do_syscall_64+0x6c/0x90
  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x6e/0xd8
 RIP: 0033:0x7f2ffb321594
 Code: 00 f7 d8 64 89 01 48 83 c8 ff c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 90 f3 0f 1e fa 80 3d d5 cd 0d 00 00 74 13 b8 03 00 00 00 0f 05 <48> 3d 00 f0 ff ff 77 3c c3 0f 1f 00 55 48 89 e5 48 83 ec 10 89 7d
 RSP: 002b:00007ffe8d8eef18 EFLAGS: 00000202 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000003
 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007f2ffba4e668 RCX: 00007f2ffb321594
 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 0000000000000003
 RBP: 00007ffe8d8eef40 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000
 R10: 55c926e3167eae79 R11: 0000000000000202 R12: 0000000000000003
 R13: 00007ffe8d8ef030 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 00007f2ffba4e668
  </TASK>
 CR2: 0000000000000010
 ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---

Move hrtimer_init to timerlat_fd open() to avoid this problem.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-26703?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-26703?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-26703 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-26703 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-26703 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-26703 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 3 Apr 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-26703 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-26703/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-26703/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-26703
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-26703
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-26703

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-26703/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.