# CVE-2024-26951: wireguard: netlink: check for dangling peer via is_dead instead of empty list

> A use-after-free in the Linux kernel WireGuard netlink handler allows attackers to cause a crash or potentially execute code by triggering a race condition during peer removal.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 1 May 2024
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-40497, BELL-CVE-2024-26951, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-26951, GHSA-m923-55g6-m66q, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-26951

## What is CVE-2024-26951?

CVE-2024-26951 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 1 May 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:

wireguard: netlink: check for dangling peer via is_dead instead of empty list

If all peers are removed via wg_peer_remove_all(), rather than setting
peer_list to empty, the peer is added to a temporary list with a head on
the stack of wg_peer_remove_all(). If a netlink dump is resumed and the
cursored peer is one that has been removed via wg_peer_remove_all(), it
will iterate from that peer and then attempt to dump freed peers.

Fix this by instead checking peer->is_dead, which was explictly created
for this purpose. Also move up the device_update_lock lockdep assertion,
since reading is_dead relies on that.

It can be reproduced by a small script like:

    echo "Setting config..."
    ip link add dev wg0 type wireguard
    wg setconf wg0 /big-config
    (
            while true; do
                    echo "Showing config..."
                    wg showconf wg0 > /dev/null
            done
    ) &
    sleep 4
    wg setconf wg0 <(printf "[Peer]\nPublicKey=$(wg genkey)\n")

Resulting in:

    BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in __lock_acquire+0x182a/0x1b20
    Read of size 8 at addr ffff88811956ec70 by task wg/59
    CPU: 2 PID: 59 Comm: wg Not tainted 6.8.0-rc2-debug+ #5
    Call Trace:
     <TASK>
     dump_stack_lvl+0x47/0x70
     print_address_description.constprop.0+0x2c/0x380
     print_report+0xab/0x250
     kasan_report+0xba/0xf0
     __lock_acquire+0x182a/0x1b20
     lock_acquire+0x191/0x4b0
     down_read+0x80/0x440
     get_peer+0x140/0xcb0
     wg_get_device_dump+0x471/0x1130

Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-26951?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Debian Debian Linux, Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-26951?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-26951 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-26951 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-2024-26951 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-26951 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 1 May 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-2024-26951 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-2024-26951/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-26951/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-26951
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-26951
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-26951

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-26951/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.