CVE-2024-40958 netns: Make get_net_ns() handle zero refcount net

High 7.8 Published 12 Jul 2024 Updated 15 Oct 2026

A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's network namespace handling allows local attackers to cause a system crash or potentially escalate privileges.

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

What is CVE-2024-40958?

CVE-2024-40958 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:

netns: Make get_net_ns() handle zero refcount net

Syzkaller hit a warning: refcount_t: addition on 0; use-after-free. WARNING: CPU: 3 PID: 7890 at lib/refcount.c:25 refcount_warn_saturate+0xdf/0x1d0 Modules linked in: CPU: 3 PID: 7890 Comm: tun Not tainted 6.10.0-rc3-00100-gcaa4f9578aba-dirty #310 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.15.0-1 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:refcount_warn_saturate+0xdf/0x1d0 Code: 41 49 04 31 ff 89 de e8 9f 1e cd fe 84 db 75 9c e8 76 26 cd fe c6 05 b6 41 49 04 01 90 48 c7 c7 b8 8e 25 86 e8 d2 05 b5 fe 90 <0f> 0b 90 90 e9 79 ff ff ff e8 53 26 cd fe 0f b6 1 RSP: 0018:ffff8881067b7da0 EFLAGS: 00010286 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: ffffffff811c72ac RDX: ffff8881026a2140 RSI: ffffffff811c72b5 RDI: 0000000000000001 RBP: ffff8881067b7db0 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 205b5d3730353139 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 205d303938375420 R12: ffff8881086500c4 R13: ffff8881086500c4 R14: ffff8881086500b0 R15: ffff888108650040 FS: 00007f5b2961a4c0(0000) GS:ffff88823bd00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 000055d7ed36fd18 CR3: 00000001482f6000 CR4: 00000000000006f0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: <TASK> ? show_regs+0xa3/0xc0 ? __warn+0xa5/0x1c0 ? refcount_warn_saturate+0xdf/0x1d0 ? report_bug+0x1fc/0x2d0 ? refcount_warn_saturate+0xdf/0x1d0 ? handle_bug+0xa1/0x110 ? exc_invalid_op+0x3c/0xb0 ? asm_exc_invalid_op+0x1f/0x30 ? __warn_printk+0xcc/0x140 ? __warn_printk+0xd5/0x140 ? refcount_warn_saturate+0xdf/0x1d0 get_net_ns+0xa4/0xc0 ? __pfx_get_net_ns+0x10/0x10 open_related_ns+0x5a/0x130 __tun_chr_ioctl+0x1616/0x2370 ? __sanitizer_cov_trace_switch+0x58/0xa0 ? __sanitizer_cov_trace_const_cmp2+0x1c/0x30 ? __pfx_tun_chr_ioctl+0x10/0x10 tun_chr_ioctl+0x2f/0x40 __x64_sys_ioctl+0x11b/0x160 x64_sys_call+0x1211/0x20d0 do_syscall_64+0x9e/0x1d0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f RIP: 0033:0x7f5b28f165d7 Code: b3 66 90 48 8b 05 b1 48 2d 00 64 c7 00 26 00 00 00 48 c7 c0 ff ff ff ff c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 b8 10 00 00 00 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 8b 0d 81 48 2d 00 8 RSP: 002b:00007ffc2b59c5e8 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000010 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: 00007f5b28f165d7 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 00000000000054e3 RDI: 0000000000000003 RBP: 00007ffc2b59c650 R08: 00007f5b291ed8c0 R09: 00007f5b2961a4c0 R10: 0000000029690010 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 0000000000400730 R13: 00007ffc2b59cf40 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 0000000000000000 </TASK> Kernel panic - not syncing: kernel: panic_on_warn set ...

This is trigger as below: ns0 ns1 tun_set_iff() //dev is tun0 tun->dev = dev //ip link set tun0 netns ns1 put_net() //ref is 0 __tun_chr_ioctl() //TUNGETDEVNETNS net = dev_net(tun->dev); open_related_ns(&net->ns, get_net_ns); //ns1 get_net_ns() get_net() //addition on 0

Use maybe_get_net() in get_net_ns in case net's ref is zero to fix this

Weakness: CWE-416

Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-40958?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2024-40958?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.

Is CVE-2024-40958 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-40958 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as BELL-CVE-2024-40958, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-40958, GHSA-8rq2-2hq7-cqr5, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-40958.