# CVE-2024-40910: ax25: Fix refcount imbalance on inbound connections

> A refcount imbalance in the Linux kernel AX.25 protocol allows attackers to trigger use-after-free errors and kernel crashes, causing denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 12 Jul 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-40910, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-40910, GHSA-37qc-prgq-xwcm, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2024-40910, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-40910

## What is CVE-2024-40910?

CVE-2024-40910 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 12 Jul 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:

ax25: Fix refcount imbalance on inbound connections

When releasing a socket in ax25_release(), we call netdev_put() to
decrease the refcount on the associated ax.25 device. However, the
execution path for accepting an incoming connection never calls
netdev_hold(). This imbalance leads to refcount errors, and ultimately
to kernel crashes.

A typical call trace for the above situation will start with one of the
following errors:

    refcount_t: decrement hit 0; leaking memory.
    refcount_t: underflow; use-after-free.

And will then have a trace like:

    Call Trace:
    <TASK>
    ? show_regs+0x64/0x70
    ? __warn+0x83/0x120
    ? refcount_warn_saturate+0xb2/0x100
    ? report_bug+0x158/0x190
    ? prb_read_valid+0x20/0x30
    ? handle_bug+0x3e/0x70
    ? exc_invalid_op+0x1c/0x70
    ? asm_exc_invalid_op+0x1f/0x30
    ? refcount_warn_saturate+0xb2/0x100
    ? refcount_warn_saturate+0xb2/0x100
    ax25_release+0x2ad/0x360
    __sock_release+0x35/0xa0
    sock_close+0x19/0x20
    [...]

On reboot (or any attempt to remove the interface), the kernel gets
stuck in an infinite loop:

    unregister_netdevice: waiting for ax0 to become free. Usage count = 0

This patch corrects these issues by ensuring that we call netdev_hold()
and ax25_dev_hold() for new connections in ax25_accept(). This makes the
logic leading to ax25_accept() match the logic for ax25_bind(): in both
cases we increment the refcount, which is ultimately decremented in
ax25_release().

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-40910?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-40910?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-40910 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-40910 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-2024-40910 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-40910 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 12 Jul 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-2024-40910 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-2024-40910/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-40910/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-40910
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-40910
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-40910

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-40910/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.