# CVE-2024-35929: rcu/nocb: Fix WARN_ON_ONCE() in the rcu_nocb_bypass_lock()

> A race condition in the Linux kernel's RCU subsystem can trigger a warning and potential instability when specific configurations are enabled and cache dropping occurs.

- **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:** 19 May 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-35929, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-35929, GHSA-hw85-hfvh-5cgr, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2024-35929, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2024-35929, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2024-35929, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-35929

## What is CVE-2024-35929?

CVE-2024-35929 is a high-severity denial of service 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:

rcu/nocb: Fix WARN_ON_ONCE() in the rcu_nocb_bypass_lock()

For the kernels built with CONFIG_RCU_NOCB_CPU_DEFAULT_ALL=y and
CONFIG_RCU_LAZY=y, the following scenarios will trigger WARN_ON_ONCE()
in the rcu_nocb_bypass_lock() and rcu_nocb_wait_contended() functions:

        CPU2                                               CPU11
kthread
rcu_nocb_cb_kthread                                       ksys_write
rcu_do_batch                                              vfs_write
rcu_torture_timer_cb                                      proc_sys_write
__kmem_cache_free                                         proc_sys_call_handler
kmemleak_free                                             drop_caches_sysctl_handler
delete_object_full                                        drop_slab
__delete_object                                           shrink_slab
put_object                                                lazy_rcu_shrink_scan
call_rcu                                                  rcu_nocb_flush_bypass
__call_rcu_commn                                            rcu_nocb_bypass_lock
                                                            raw_spin_trylock(&rdp->nocb_bypass_lock) fail
                                                            atomic_inc(&rdp->nocb_lock_contended);
rcu_nocb_wait_contended                                     WARN_ON_ONCE(smp_processor_id() != rdp->cpu);
 WARN_ON_ONCE(atomic_read(&rdp->nocb_lock_contended))                                          |
                            |_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _same rdp and rdp->cpu != 11_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __|

Reproduce this bug with "echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches".

This commit therefore uses rcu_nocb_try_flush_bypass() instead of
rcu_nocb_flush_bypass() in lazy_rcu_shrink_scan().  If the nocb_bypass
queue is being flushed, then rcu_nocb_try_flush_bypass will return
directly.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-35929?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-35929?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-35929 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-35929 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-2024-35929 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-35929 is a high-severity denial of service 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-2024-35929 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-2024-35929/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-35929/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-35929
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-35929
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-35929

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-35929/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.