# CVE-2024-35855: mlxsw: spectrum_acl_tcam: Fix possible use-after-free during activity update

> A race condition in the mlxsw driver allows a use-after-free, potentially leading to system crashes or arbitrary code execution.

- **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:** 17 May 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-35855, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-35855, GHSA-7rp6-2m4j-7w56, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-35855

## What is CVE-2024-35855?

CVE-2024-35855 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 17 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:

mlxsw: spectrum_acl_tcam: Fix possible use-after-free during activity update

The rule activity update delayed work periodically traverses the list of
configured rules and queries their activity from the device.

As part of this task it accesses the entry pointed by 'ventry->entry',
but this entry can be changed concurrently by the rehash delayed work,
leading to a use-after-free [1].

Fix by closing the race and perform the activity query under the
'vregion->lock' mutex.

[1]
BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in mlxsw_sp_acl_tcam_flower_rule_activity_get+0x121/0x140
Read of size 8 at addr ffff8881054ed808 by task kworker/0:18/181

CPU: 0 PID: 181 Comm: kworker/0:18 Not tainted 6.9.0-rc2-custom-00781-gd5ab772d32f7 #2
Hardware name: Mellanox Technologies Ltd. MSN3700/VMOD0005, BIOS 5.11 01/06/2019
Workqueue: mlxsw_core mlxsw_sp_acl_rule_activity_update_work
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 dump_stack_lvl+0xc6/0x120
 print_report+0xce/0x670
 kasan_report+0xd7/0x110
 mlxsw_sp_acl_tcam_flower_rule_activity_get+0x121/0x140
 mlxsw_sp_acl_rule_activity_update_work+0x219/0x400
 process_one_work+0x8eb/0x19b0
 worker_thread+0x6c9/0xf70
 kthread+0x2c9/0x3b0
 ret_from_fork+0x4d/0x80
 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30
 </TASK>

Allocated by task 1039:
 kasan_save_stack+0x33/0x60
 kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30
 __kasan_kmalloc+0x8f/0xa0
 __kmalloc+0x19c/0x360
 mlxsw_sp_acl_tcam_entry_create+0x7b/0x1f0
 mlxsw_sp_acl_tcam_vchunk_migrate_all+0x30d/0xb50
 mlxsw_sp_acl_tcam_vregion_rehash_work+0x157/0x1300
 process_one_work+0x8eb/0x19b0
 worker_thread+0x6c9/0xf70
 kthread+0x2c9/0x3b0
 ret_from_fork+0x4d/0x80
 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30

Freed by task 1039:
 kasan_save_stack+0x33/0x60
 kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30
 kasan_save_free_info+0x3b/0x60
 poison_slab_object+0x102/0x170
 __kasan_slab_free+0x14/0x30
 kfree+0xc1/0x290
 mlxsw_sp_acl_tcam_vchunk_migrate_all+0x3d7/0xb50
 mlxsw_sp_acl_tcam_vregion_rehash_work+0x157/0x1300
 process_one_work+0x8eb/0x19b0
 worker_thread+0x6c9/0xf70
 kthread+0x2c9/0x3b0
 ret_from_fork+0x4d/0x80
 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30

Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-35855?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-35855?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-35855 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-35855 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-2024-35855 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-35855 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 17 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-2024-35855 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-2024-35855/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-35855/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-35855
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-35855
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-35855

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-35855/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.