# CVE-2024-36979: net: bridge: mst: fix vlan use-after-free
> A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel bridge MST code allows attackers to cause a denial of service or potentially execute code.
- **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 Jun 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-36979, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-36979, GHSA-355p-v6gf-92vj, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-36979
## What is CVE-2024-36979?
CVE-2024-36979 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 Jun 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: bridge: mst: fix vlan use-after-free
syzbot reported a suspicious rcu usage[1] in bridge's mst code. While
fixing it I noticed that nothing prevents a vlan to be freed while
walking the list from the same path (br forward delay timer). Fix the rcu
usage and also make sure we are not accessing freed memory by making
br_mst_vlan_set_state use rcu read lock.
[1]
WARNING: suspicious RCU usage
6.9.0-rc6-syzkaller #0 Not tainted
-----------------------------
net/bridge/br_private.h:1599 suspicious rcu_dereference_protected() usage!
...
stack backtrace:
CPU: 1 PID: 8017 Comm: syz-executor.1 Not tainted 6.9.0-rc6-syzkaller #0
Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 03/27/2024
Call Trace:
__dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:88 [inline]
dump_stack_lvl+0x241/0x360 lib/dump_stack.c:114
lockdep_rcu_suspicious+0x221/0x340 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:6712
nbp_vlan_group net/bridge/br_private.h:1599 [inline]
br_mst_set_state+0x1ea/0x650 net/bridge/br_mst.c:105
br_set_state+0x28a/0x7b0 net/bridge/br_stp.c:47
br_forward_delay_timer_expired+0x176/0x440 net/bridge/br_stp_timer.c:88
call_timer_fn+0x18e/0x650 kernel/time/timer.c:1793
expire_timers kernel/time/timer.c:1844 [inline]
__run_timers kernel/time/timer.c:2418 [inline]
__run_timer_base+0x66a/0x8e0 kernel/time/timer.c:2429
run_timer_base kernel/time/timer.c:2438 [inline]
run_timer_softirq+0xb7/0x170 kernel/time/timer.c:2448
__do_softirq+0x2c6/0x980 kernel/softirq.c:554
invoke_softirq kernel/softirq.c:428 [inline]
__irq_exit_rcu+0xf2/0x1c0 kernel/softirq.c:633
irq_exit_rcu+0x9/0x30 kernel/softirq.c:645
instr_sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt arch/x86/kernel/apic/apic.c:1043 [inline]
sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt+0xa6/0xc0 arch/x86/kernel/apic/apic.c:1043
asm_sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt+0x1a/0x20 arch/x86/include/asm/idtentry.h:702
RIP: 0010:lock_acquire+0x264/0x550 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5758
Code: 2b 00 74 08 4c 89 f7 e8 ba d1 84 00 f6 44 24 61 02 0f 85 85 01 00 00 41 f7 c7 00 02 00 00 74 01 fb 48 c7 44 24 40 0e 36 e0 45 <4b> c7 44 25 00 00 00 00 00 43 c7 44 25 09 00 00 00 00 43 c7 44 25
RSP: 0018:ffffc90013657100 EFLAGS: 00000206
RAX: 0000000000000001 RBX: 1ffff920026cae2c RCX: 0000000000000001
RDX: dffffc0000000000 RSI: ffffffff8bcaca00 RDI: ffffffff8c1eaa60
RBP: ffffc90013657260 R08: ffffffff92efe507 R09: 1ffffffff25dfca0
R10: dffffc0000000000 R11: fffffbfff25dfca1 R12: 1ffff920026cae28
R13: dffffc0000000000 R14: ffffc90013657160 R15: 0000000000000246
Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free)
## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-36979?
It affects 1 product.
Products: Linux kernel.
## How do I fix CVE-2024-36979?
Apply the vendor's patch.
## Is CVE-2024-36979 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-36979 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-2024-36979 and fix it if it is affected.
What it is: CVE-2024-36979 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 Jun 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-2024-36979 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-2024-36979/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-36979/index.md)
```
## Sources
- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-36979
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-36979
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-36979
---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-36979/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.