# CVE-2024-49981: media: venus: fix use after free bug in venus_remove due to race condition

> A race condition in the Linux kernel Venus media driver allows a use-after-free, potentially leading to code execution or system crash.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 Oct 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-51486, BELL-CVE-2024-49981, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-49981, GHSA-5frw-42jx-47v6, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-49981

## What is CVE-2024-49981?

CVE-2024-49981 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 Oct 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:

media: venus: fix use after free bug in venus_remove due to race condition

in venus_probe, core->work is bound with venus_sys_error_handler, which is
used to handle error. The code use core->sys_err_done to make sync work.
The core->work is started in venus_event_notify.

If we call venus_remove, there might be an unfished work. The possible
sequence is as follows:

CPU0                  CPU1

                     |venus_sys_error_handler
venus_remove         |
hfi_destroy	 		 |
venus_hfi_destroy	 |
kfree(hdev);	     |
                     |hfi_reinit
					 |venus_hfi_queues_reinit
                     |//use hdev

Fix it by canceling the work in venus_remove.

Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free), CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-49981?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-49981?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-49981 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-49981 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-2024-49981 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-49981 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 Oct 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-2024-49981 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-2024-49981/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-49981/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-49981
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-49981
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-49981

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-49981/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.