# CVE-2024-26859: net/bnx2x: Prevent access to a freed page in page_pool

> A race condition in the bnx2x network driver during EEH error handling can cause a system crash due to accessing freed memory.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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:** 17 Apr 2024
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-26859, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-26859, GHSA-3959-j6xj-m4c3, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-26859

## What is CVE-2024-26859?

CVE-2024-26859 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 17 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:

net/bnx2x: Prevent access to a freed page in page_pool

Fix race condition leading to system crash during EEH error handling

During EEH error recovery, the bnx2x driver's transmit timeout logic
could cause a race condition when handling reset tasks. The
bnx2x_tx_timeout() schedules reset tasks via bnx2x_sp_rtnl_task(),
which ultimately leads to bnx2x_nic_unload(). In bnx2x_nic_unload()
SGEs are freed using bnx2x_free_rx_sge_range(). However, this could
overlap with the EEH driver's attempt to reset the device using
bnx2x_io_slot_reset(), which also tries to free SGEs. This race
condition can result in system crashes due to accessing freed memory
locations in bnx2x_free_rx_sge()

799  static inline void bnx2x_free_rx_sge(struct bnx2x *bp,
800				struct bnx2x_fastpath *fp, u16 index)
801  {
802	struct sw_rx_page *sw_buf = &fp->rx_page_ring[index];
803     struct page *page = sw_buf->page;
....
where sw_buf was set to NULL after the call to dma_unmap_page()
by the preceding thread.

    EEH: Beginning: 'slot_reset'
    PCI 0011:01:00.0#10000: EEH: Invoking bnx2x->slot_reset()
    bnx2x: [bnx2x_io_slot_reset:14228(eth1)]IO slot reset initializing...
    bnx2x 0011:01:00.0: enabling device (0140 -> 0142)
    bnx2x: [bnx2x_io_slot_reset:14244(eth1)]IO slot reset --> driver unload
    Kernel attempted to read user page (0) - exploit attempt? (uid: 0)
    BUG: Kernel NULL pointer dereference on read at 0x00000000
    Faulting instruction address: 0xc0080000025065fc
    Oops: Kernel access of bad area, sig: 11 [#1]
    .....
    Call Trace:
    [c000000003c67a20] [c00800000250658c] bnx2x_io_slot_reset+0x204/0x610 [bnx2x] (unreliable)
    [c000000003c67af0] [c0000000000518a8] eeh_report_reset+0xb8/0xf0
    [c000000003c67b60] [c000000000052130] eeh_pe_report+0x180/0x550
    [c000000003c67c70] [c00000000005318c] eeh_handle_normal_event+0x84c/0xa60
    [c000000003c67d50] [c000000000053a84] eeh_event_handler+0xf4/0x170
    [c000000003c67da0] [c000000000194c58] kthread+0x1c8/0x1d0
    [c000000003c67e10] [c00000000000cf64] ret_from_kernel_thread+0x5c/0x64

To solve this issue, we need to verify page pool allocations before
freeing.

Weakness: CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-26859?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Debian Debian Linux, Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-26859?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-26859 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-26859 in the wild and no public exploit code.

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## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-26859 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-26859 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 17 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-2024-26859 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-2024-26859/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-26859/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-26859
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-26859
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-26859

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-26859/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
