# CVE-2024-41023: sched/deadline: Fix task_struct reference leak

> A reference leak in the Linux kernel scheduler can cause memory exhaustion, leading to denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:** 29 Jul 2024
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-57740, AZL-57743, BELL-CVE-2024-41023, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-41023, GHSA-v75f-hc9p-6g26, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2024-41023, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2024-41023, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2024-41023, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-41023

## What is CVE-2024-41023?

CVE-2024-41023 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 29 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:

sched/deadline: Fix task_struct reference leak

During the execution of the following stress test with linux-rt:

stress-ng --cyclic 30 --timeout 30 --minimize --quiet

kmemleak frequently reported a memory leak concerning the task_struct:

unreferenced object 0xffff8881305b8000 (size 16136):
  comm "stress-ng", pid 614, jiffies 4294883961 (age 286.412s)
  object hex dump (first 32 bytes):
    02 40 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  .@..............
    00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  ................
  debug hex dump (first 16 bytes):
    53 09 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  S...............
  backtrace:
    [<00000000046b6790>] dup_task_struct+0x30/0x540
    [<00000000c5ca0f0b>] copy_process+0x3d9/0x50e0
    [<00000000ced59777>] kernel_clone+0xb0/0x770
    [<00000000a50befdc>] __do_sys_clone+0xb6/0xf0
    [<000000001dbf2008>] do_syscall_64+0x5d/0xf0
    [<00000000552900ff>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x6e/0x76

The issue occurs in start_dl_timer(), which increments the task_struct
reference count and sets a timer. The timer callback, dl_task_timer,
is supposed to decrement the reference count upon expiration. However,
if enqueue_task_dl() is called before the timer expires and cancels it,
the reference count is not decremented, leading to the leak.

This patch fixes the reference leak by ensuring the task_struct
reference count is properly decremented when the timer is canceled.

Weakness: CWE-401 (Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-41023?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-41023?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-41023 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-41023 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-2024-41023 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-41023 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 29 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-2024-41023 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-2024-41023/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-41023/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-41023
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-41023
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-41023

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-41023/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.