# CVE-2024-44958: sched/smt: Fix unbalance sched_smt_present dec/inc

> A logic error in the Linux kernel scheduler causes an unbalanced counter decrement during CPU offline failures, potentially triggering a kernel warning and system instability.

- **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:** 4 Sep 2024
- **Updated:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-44958, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-44958, GHSA-7m5m-jw3r-vxv2, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2024-44958, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-44958

## What is CVE-2024-44958?

CVE-2024-44958 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 4 Sep 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/smt: Fix unbalance sched_smt_present dec/inc

I got the following warn report while doing stress test:

jump label: negative count!
WARNING: CPU: 3 PID: 38 at kernel/jump_label.c:263 static_key_slow_try_dec+0x9d/0xb0
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 __static_key_slow_dec_cpuslocked+0x16/0x70
 sched_cpu_deactivate+0x26e/0x2a0
 cpuhp_invoke_callback+0x3ad/0x10d0
 cpuhp_thread_fun+0x3f5/0x680
 smpboot_thread_fn+0x56d/0x8d0
 kthread+0x309/0x400
 ret_from_fork+0x41/0x70
 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1b/0x30
 </TASK>

Because when cpuset_cpu_inactive() fails in sched_cpu_deactivate(),
the cpu offline failed, but sched_smt_present is decremented before
calling sched_cpu_deactivate(), it leads to unbalanced dec/inc, so
fix it by incrementing sched_smt_present in the error path.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-44958?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-44958?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-44958 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-44958 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-2024-44958 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-44958 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 4 Sep 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-2024-44958 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-2024-44958/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-44958/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-44958
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-44958
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-44958

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-44958/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.