# CVE-2024-42274: Revert "ALSA: firewire-lib: operate for period elapse event in process context"

> A race condition in the Linux kernel ALSA firewire driver causes a deadlock and system freeze during audio operations.

- **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:** 17 Aug 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-42274, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-42274, GHSA-xxmg-rp7c-344j, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-42274

## What is CVE-2024-42274?

CVE-2024-42274 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 17 Aug 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:

Revert "ALSA: firewire-lib: operate for period elapse event in process context"

Commit 7ba5ca32fe6e ("ALSA: firewire-lib: operate for period elapse event
in process context") removed the process context workqueue from
amdtp_domain_stream_pcm_pointer() and update_pcm_pointers() to remove
its overhead.

With RME Fireface 800, this lead to a regression since
Kernels 5.14.0, causing an AB/BA deadlock competition for the
substream lock with eventual system freeze under ALSA operation:

thread 0:
    * (lock A) acquire substream lock by
	snd_pcm_stream_lock_irq() in
	snd_pcm_status64()
    * (lock B) wait for tasklet to finish by calling
    	tasklet_unlock_spin_wait() in
	tasklet_disable_in_atomic() in
	ohci_flush_iso_completions() of ohci.c

thread 1:
    * (lock B) enter tasklet
    * (lock A) attempt to acquire substream lock,
    	waiting for it to be released:
	snd_pcm_stream_lock_irqsave() in
    	snd_pcm_period_elapsed() in
	update_pcm_pointers() in
	process_ctx_payloads() in
	process_rx_packets() of amdtp-stream.c

? tasklet_unlock_spin_wait
 </NMI>
 <TASK>
ohci_flush_iso_completions firewire_ohci
amdtp_domain_stream_pcm_pointer snd_firewire_lib
snd_pcm_update_hw_ptr0 snd_pcm
snd_pcm_status64 snd_pcm

? native_queued_spin_lock_slowpath
 </NMI>
 <IRQ>
_raw_spin_lock_irqsave
snd_pcm_period_elapsed snd_pcm
process_rx_packets snd_firewire_lib
irq_target_callback snd_firewire_lib
handle_it_packet firewire_ohci
context_tasklet firewire_ohci

Restore the process context work queue to prevent deadlock
AB/BA deadlock competition for ALSA substream lock of
snd_pcm_stream_lock_irq() in snd_pcm_status64()
and snd_pcm_stream_lock_irqsave() in snd_pcm_period_elapsed().

revert commit 7ba5ca32fe6e ("ALSA: firewire-lib: operate for period
elapse event in process context")

Replace inline description to prevent future deadlock.

Weakness: CWE-667 (Improper Locking)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-42274?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-42274?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-42274 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-42274 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-2024-42274 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-42274 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 17 Aug 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-2024-42274 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-2024-42274/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-42274/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-42274
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-42274
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-42274

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-42274/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.