# CVE-2024-26805: netlink: Fix kernel-infoleak-after-free in __skb_datagram_iter > A local attacker can read uninitialized kernel memory via netlink socket operations due to incorrect length calculation in skb copying. - **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:** 4 Apr 2024 - **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026 - **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-26805, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-26805, GHSA-7xpv-78qx-q843, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-26805 ## What is CVE-2024-26805? CVE-2024-26805 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 4 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: netlink: Fix kernel-infoleak-after-free in __skb_datagram_iter syzbot reported the following uninit-value access issue [1]: netlink_to_full_skb() creates a new `skb` and puts the `skb->data` passed as a 1st arg of netlink_to_full_skb() onto new `skb`. The data size is specified as `len` and passed to skb_put_data(). This `len` is based on `skb->end` that is not data offset but buffer offset. The `skb->end` contains data and tailroom. Since the tailroom is not initialized when the new `skb` created, KMSAN detects uninitialized memory area when copying the data. This patch resolved this issue by correct the len from `skb->end` to `skb->len`, which is the actual data offset. BUG: KMSAN: kernel-infoleak-after-free in instrument_copy_to_user include/linux/instrumented.h:114 [inline] BUG: KMSAN: kernel-infoleak-after-free in copy_to_user_iter lib/iov_iter.c:24 [inline] BUG: KMSAN: kernel-infoleak-after-free in iterate_ubuf include/linux/iov_iter.h:29 [inline] BUG: KMSAN: kernel-infoleak-after-free in iterate_and_advance2 include/linux/iov_iter.h:245 [inline] BUG: KMSAN: kernel-infoleak-after-free in iterate_and_advance include/linux/iov_iter.h:271 [inline] BUG: KMSAN: kernel-infoleak-after-free in _copy_to_iter+0x364/0x2520 lib/iov_iter.c:186 instrument_copy_to_user include/linux/instrumented.h:114 [inline] copy_to_user_iter lib/iov_iter.c:24 [inline] iterate_ubuf include/linux/iov_iter.h:29 [inline] iterate_and_advance2 include/linux/iov_iter.h:245 [inline] iterate_and_advance include/linux/iov_iter.h:271 [inline] _copy_to_iter+0x364/0x2520 lib/iov_iter.c:186 copy_to_iter include/linux/uio.h:197 [inline] simple_copy_to_iter+0x68/0xa0 net/core/datagram.c:532 __skb_datagram_iter+0x123/0xdc0 net/core/datagram.c:420 skb_copy_datagram_iter+0x5c/0x200 net/core/datagram.c:546 skb_copy_datagram_msg include/linux/skbuff.h:3960 [inline] packet_recvmsg+0xd9c/0x2000 net/packet/af_packet.c:3482 sock_recvmsg_nosec net/socket.c:1044 [inline] sock_recvmsg net/socket.c:1066 [inline] sock_read_iter+0x467/0x580 net/socket.c:1136 call_read_iter include/linux/fs.h:2014 [inline] new_sync_read fs/read_write.c:389 [inline] vfs_read+0x8f6/0xe00 fs/read_write.c:470 ksys_read+0x20f/0x4c0 fs/read_write.c:613 __do_sys_read fs/read_write.c:623 [inline] __se_sys_read fs/read_write.c:621 [inline] __x64_sys_read+0x93/0xd0 fs/read_write.c:621 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x44/0x110 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0x6b Uninit was stored to memory at: skb_put_data include/linux/skbuff.h:2622 [inline] netlink_to_full_skb net/netlink/af_netlink.c:181 [inline] __netlink_deliver_tap_skb net/netlink/af_netlink.c:298 [inline] __netlink_deliver_tap+0x5be/0xc90 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:325 netlink_deliver_tap net/netlink/af_netlink.c:338 [inline] netlink_deliver_tap_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:347 [inline] netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1341 [inline] netlink_unicast+0x10f1/0x1250 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1368 netlink_sendmsg+0x1238/0x13d0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1910 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:730 [inline] __sock_sendmsg net/socket.c:745 [inline] ____sys_sendmsg+0x9c2/0xd60 net/socket.c:2584 ___sys_sendmsg+0x28d/0x3c0 net/socket.c:2638 __sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2667 [inline] __do_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2676 [inline] __se_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2674 [inline] __x64_sys_sendmsg+0x307/0x490 net/socket.c:2674 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x44/0x110 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0x6b Uninit was created at: free_pages_prepare mm/page_alloc.c:1087 [inline] free_unref_page_prepare+0xb0/0xa40 mm/page_alloc.c:2347 free_unref_page_list+0xeb/0x1100 mm/page_alloc.c:2533 release_pages+0x23d3/0x2410 mm/swap.c:1042 free_pages_and_swap_cache+0xd9/0xf0 mm/swap_state.c:316 tlb_batch_pages ---truncated--- Weakness: CWE-908 (Use of Uninitialized Resource) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-26805? It affects 2 products. Products: Debian Debian Linux, Linux kernel. ## How do I fix CVE-2024-26805? Apply the vendor's patch. ## Is CVE-2024-26805 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-26805 in the wild and no public exploit code. ## Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux - [CVE-2015-3306](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3306/): ProFTPD Improper Access Control (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2025-49113](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-49113/): RoundCube Webmail Deserialization of Untrusted Data (critical 9.9, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2026-24061](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24061/): GNU InetUtils Argument Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2025-39682](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39682/): Linux Kernel Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2024-9680](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-9680/): Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild) ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2024-26805 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2024-26805 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 4 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-2024-26805 in the wild and no public exploit code. Affected product: Debian Debian Linux. 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-2024-26805/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-26805/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-26805 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-26805 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-26805 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-26805/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.