# CVE-2024-42152: nvmet: fix a possible leak when destroy a ctrl during qp establishment

> A race condition in the Linux kernel NVMe target driver can cause a memory leak when destroying a controller during queue pair establishment.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 30 Jul 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-47660, AZL-47685, BELL-CVE-2024-42152, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-42152, GHSA-ghw9-6h55-qj7v, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-42152

## What is CVE-2024-42152?

CVE-2024-42152 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 30 Jul 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

nvmet: fix a possible leak when destroy a ctrl during qp establishment

In nvmet_sq_destroy we capture sq->ctrl early and if it is non-NULL we
know that a ctrl was allocated (in the admin connect request handler)
and we need to release pending AERs, clear ctrl->sqs and sq->ctrl
(for nvme-loop primarily), and drop the final reference on the ctrl.

However, a small window is possible where nvmet_sq_destroy starts (as
a result of the client giving up and disconnecting) concurrently with
the nvme admin connect cmd (which may be in an early stage). But *before*
kill_and_confirm of sq->ref (i.e. the admin connect managed to get an sq
live reference). In this case, sq->ctrl was allocated however after it was
captured in a local variable in nvmet_sq_destroy.
This prevented the final reference drop on the ctrl.

Solve this by re-capturing the sq->ctrl after all inflight request has
completed, where for sure sq->ctrl reference is final, and move forward
based on that.

This issue was observed in an environment with many hosts connecting
multiple ctrls simoutanuosly, creating a delay in allocating a ctrl
leading up to this race window.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-42152?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-42152?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-42152 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-42152 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-2024-42152 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-42152 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 30 Jul 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-42152 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-2024-42152/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-42152/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-42152
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-42152
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-42152

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-42152/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.