# CVE-2024-43869: perf: Fix event leak upon exec and file release

> A memory leak in the Linux kernel perf subsystem can lead to resource exhaustion and 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:** 21 Aug 2024
- **Updated:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-43869, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-43869, GHSA-9vrp-98c8-qqx8, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-43869

## What is CVE-2024-43869?

CVE-2024-43869 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 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:

perf: Fix event leak upon exec and file release

The perf pending task work is never waited upon the matching event
release. In the case of a child event, released via free_event()
directly, this can potentially result in a leaked event, such as in the
following scenario that doesn't even require a weak IRQ work
implementation to trigger:

schedule()
   prepare_task_switch()
=======> <NMI>
      perf_event_overflow()
         event->pending_sigtrap = ...
         irq_work_queue(&event->pending_irq)
<======= </NMI>
      perf_event_task_sched_out()
          event_sched_out()
              event->pending_sigtrap = 0;
              atomic_long_inc_not_zero(&event->refcount)
              task_work_add(&event->pending_task)
   finish_lock_switch()
=======> <IRQ>
   perf_pending_irq()
      //do nothing, rely on pending task work
<======= </IRQ>

begin_new_exec()
   perf_event_exit_task()
      perf_event_exit_event()
         // If is child event
         free_event()
            WARN(atomic_long_cmpxchg(&event->refcount, 1, 0) != 1)
            // event is leaked

Similar scenarios can also happen with perf_event_remove_on_exec() or
simply against concurrent perf_event_release().

Fix this with synchonizing against the possibly remaining pending task
work while freeing the event, just like is done with remaining pending
IRQ work. This means that the pending task callback neither need nor
should hold a reference to the event, preventing it from ever beeing
freed.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-43869?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-43869?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-43869 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-43869 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-2024-43869 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-43869 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 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-2024-43869 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-2024-43869/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-43869/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-43869
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-43869
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-43869

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-43869/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.