# CVE-2024-40927: xhci: Handle TD clearing for multiple streams case

> A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel xHCI driver allows attackers to cause denial of service or potentially execute code via multiple USB streams.

- **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:** 12 Jul 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-40927, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-40927, GHSA-38vr-8qrj-3x4h, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2024-40927, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-40927

## What is CVE-2024-40927?

CVE-2024-40927 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:

xhci: Handle TD clearing for multiple streams case

When multiple streams are in use, multiple TDs might be in flight when
an endpoint is stopped. We need to issue a Set TR Dequeue Pointer for
each, to ensure everything is reset properly and the caches cleared.
Change the logic so that any N>1 TDs found active for different streams
are deferred until after the first one is processed, calling
xhci_invalidate_cancelled_tds() again from xhci_handle_cmd_set_deq() to
queue another command until we are done with all of them. Also change
the error/"should never happen" paths to ensure we at least clear any
affected TDs, even if we can't issue a command to clear the hardware
cache, and complain loudly with an xhci_warn() if this ever happens.

This problem case dates back to commit e9df17eb1408 ("USB: xhci: Correct
assumptions about number of rings per endpoint.") early on in the XHCI
driver's life, when stream support was first added.
It was then identified but not fixed nor made into a warning in commit
674f8438c121 ("xhci: split handling halted endpoints into two steps"),
which added a FIXME comment for the problem case (without materially
changing the behavior as far as I can tell, though the new logic made
the problem more obvious).

Then later, in commit 94f339147fc3 ("xhci: Fix failure to give back some
cached cancelled URBs."), it was acknowledged again.

[Mathias: commit 94f339147fc3 ("xhci: Fix failure to give back some cached
cancelled URBs.") was a targeted regression fix to the previously mentioned
patch. Users reported issues with usb stuck after unmounting/disconnecting
UAS devices. This rolled back the TD clearing of multiple streams to its
original state.]

Apparently the commit author was aware of the problem (yet still chose
to submit it): It was still mentioned as a FIXME, an xhci_dbg() was
added to log the problem condition, and the remaining issue was mentioned
in the commit description. The choice of making the log type xhci_dbg()
for what is, at this point, a completely unhandled and known broken
condition is puzzling and unfortunate, as it guarantees that no actual
users would see the log in production, thereby making it nigh
undebuggable (indeed, even if you turn on DEBUG, the message doesn't
really hint at there being a problem at all).

It took me *months* of random xHC crashes to finally find a reliable
repro and be able to do a deep dive debug session, which could all have
been avoided had this unhandled, broken condition been actually reported
with a warning, as it should have been as a bug intentionally left in
unfixed (never mind that it shouldn't have been left in at all).

> Another fix to solve clearing the caches of all stream rings with
> cancelled TDs is needed, but not as urgent.

3 years after that statement and 14 years after the original bug was
introduced, I think it's finally time to fix it. And maybe next time
let's not leave bugs unfixed (that are actually worse than the original
bug), and let's actually get people to review kernel commits please.

Fixes xHC crashes and IOMMU faults with UAS devices when handling
errors/faults. Easiest repro is to use `hdparm` to mark an early sector
(e.g. 1024) on a disk as bad, then `cat /dev/sdX > /dev/null` in a loop.
At least in the case of JMicron controllers, the read errors end up
having to cancel two TDs (for two queued requests to different streams)
and the one that didn't get cleared properly ends up faulting the xHC
entirely when it tries to access DMA pages that have since been unmapped,
referred to by the stale TDs. This normally happens quickly (after two
or three loops). After this fix, I left the `cat` in a loop running
overnight and experienced no xHC failures, with all read errors
recovered properly. Repro'd and tested on an Apple M1 Mac Mini
(dwc3 host).

On systems without an IOMMU, this bug would instead silently corrupt
freed memory, making this a
---truncated---

Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-40927?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-40927?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-40927 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-40927 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-2024-40927 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-40927 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-2024-40927 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-2024-40927/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-40927/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-40927
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-40927
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-40927

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-40927/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
