# CVE-2024-35873: riscv: Fix vector state restore in rt_sigreturn()

> A bug in the Linux kernel RISC-V vector state restoration can corrupt memory, causing application crashes during signal handling.

- **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:** 19 May 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-35873, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-35873, GHSA-x6qv-96vx-xf3h, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-35873

## What is CVE-2024-35873?

CVE-2024-35873 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 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:

riscv: Fix vector state restore in rt_sigreturn()

The RISC-V Vector specification states in "Appendix D: Calling
Convention for Vector State" [1] that "Executing a system call causes
all caller-saved vector registers (v0-v31, vl, vtype) and vstart to
become unspecified.". In the RISC-V kernel this is called "discarding
the vstate".

Returning from a signal handler via the rt_sigreturn() syscall, vector
discard is also performed. However, this is not an issue since the
vector state should be restored from the sigcontext, and therefore not
care about the vector discard.

The "live state" is the actual vector register in the running context,
and the "vstate" is the vector state of the task. A dirty live state,
means that the vstate and live state are not in synch.

When vectorized user_from_copy() was introduced, an bug sneaked in at
the restoration code, related to the discard of the live state.

An example when this go wrong:

  1. A userland application is executing vector code
  2. The application receives a signal, and the signal handler is
     entered.
  3. The application returns from the signal handler, using the
     rt_sigreturn() syscall.
  4. The live vector state is discarded upon entering the
     rt_sigreturn(), and the live state is marked as "dirty", indicating
     that the live state need to be synchronized with the current
     vstate.
  5. rt_sigreturn() restores the vstate, except the Vector registers,
     from the sigcontext
  6. rt_sigreturn() restores the Vector registers, from the sigcontext,
     and now the vectorized user_from_copy() is used. The dirty live
     state from the discard is saved to the vstate, making the vstate
     corrupt.
  7. rt_sigreturn() returns to the application, which crashes due to
     corrupted vstate.

Note that the vectorized user_from_copy() is invoked depending on the
value of CONFIG_RISCV_ISA_V_UCOPY_THRESHOLD. Default is 768, which
means that vlen has to be larger than 128b for this bug to trigger.

The fix is simply to mark the live state as non-dirty/clean prior
performing the vstate restore.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-35873?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-35873?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-35873 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-35873 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-2024-35873 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-35873 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 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-2024-35873 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-2024-35873/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-35873/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-35873
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-35873
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-35873

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-35873/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.