CVE-2024-50039 net/sched: accept TCA_STAB only for root qdisc

High 7.8 Published 21 Oct 2024 Updated 15 Oct 2026

A local attacker can crash the Linux kernel by configuring a specific queue discipline combination, causing a null pointer dereference.

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

What is CVE-2024-50039?

CVE-2024-50039 is a high-severity 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:

net/sched: accept TCA_STAB only for root qdisc

Most qdiscs maintain their backlog using qdisc_pkt_len(skb) on the assumption it is invariant between the enqueue() and dequeue() handlers.

Unfortunately syzbot can crash a host rather easily using a TBF + SFQ combination, with an STAB on SFQ [1]

We can't support TCA_STAB on arbitrary level, this would require to maintain per-qdisc storage.

[1] [ 88.796496] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 [ 88.798611] #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode [ 88.799014] #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page [ 88.799506] PGD 0 P4D 0 [ 88.799829] Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI [ 88.800569] CPU: 14 UID: 0 PID: 2053 Comm: b371744477 Not tainted 6.12.0-rc1-virtme #1117 [ 88.801107] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014 [ 88.801779] RIP: 0010:sfq_dequeue (net/sched/sch_sfq.c:272 net/sched/sch_sfq.c:499) sch_sfq [ 88.802544] Code: 0f b7 50 12 48 8d 04 d5 00 00 00 00 48 89 d6 48 29 d0 48 8b 91 c0 01 00 00 48 c1 e0 03 48 01 c2 66 83 7a 1a 00 7e c0 48 8b 3a <4c> 8b 07 4c 89 02 49 89 50 08 48 c7 47 08 00 00 00 00 48 c7 07 00 All code ======== 0: 0f b7 50 12 movzwl 0x12(%rax),%edx 4: 48 8d 04 d5 00 00 00 lea 0x0(,%rdx,8),%rax b: 00 c: 48 89 d6 mov %rdx,%rsi f: 48 29 d0 sub %rdx,%rax 12: 48 8b 91 c0 01 00 00 mov 0x1c0(%rcx),%rdx 19: 48 c1 e0 03 shl $0x3,%rax 1d: 48 01 c2 add %rax,%rdx 20: 66 83 7a 1a 00 cmpw $0x0,0x1a(%rdx) 25: 7e c0 jle 0xffffffffffffffe7 27: 48 8b 3a mov (%rdx),%rdi 2a:* 4c 8b 07 mov (%rdi),%r8 <-- trapping instruction 2d: 4c 89 02 mov %r8,(%rdx) 30: 49 89 50 08 mov %rdx,0x8(%r8) 34: 48 c7 47 08 00 00 00 movq $0x0,0x8(%rdi) 3b: 00 3c: 48 rex.W 3d: c7 .byte 0xc7 3e: 07 (bad) ...

Code starting with the faulting instruction =========================================== 0: 4c 8b 07 mov (%rdi),%r8 3: 4c 89 02 mov %r8,(%rdx) 6: 49 89 50 08 mov %rdx,0x8(%r8) a: 48 c7 47 08 00 00 00 movq $0x0,0x8(%rdi) 11: 00 12: 48 rex.W 13: c7 .byte 0xc7 14: 07 (bad) ... [ 88.803721] RSP: 0018:ffff9a1f892b7d58 EFLAGS: 00000206 [ 88.804032] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff9a1f8420c800 RCX: ffff9a1f8420c800 [ 88.804560] RDX: ffff9a1f81bc1440 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 0000000000000000 [ 88.805056] RBP: ffffffffc04bb0e0 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: 00000000ff7f9a1f [ 88.805473] R10: 000000000001001b R11: 0000000000009a1f R12: 0000000000000140 [ 88.806194] R13: 0000000000000001 R14: ffff9a1f886df400 R15: ffff9a1f886df4ac [ 88.806734] FS: 00007f445601a740(0000) GS:ffff9a2e7fd80000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 88.807225] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 88.807672] CR2: 0000000000000000 CR3: 000000050cc46000 CR4: 00000000000006f0 [ 88.808165] Call Trace: [ 88.808459] <TASK> [ 88.808710] ? __die (arch/x86/kernel/dumpstack.c:421 arch/x86/kernel/dumpstack.c:434) [ 88.809261] ? page_fault_oops (arch/x86/mm/fault.c:715) [ 88.809561] ? exc_page_fault (./arch/x86/include/asm/irqflags.h:26 ./arch/x86/include/asm/irqflags.h:87 ./arch/x86/include/asm/irqflags.h:147 arch/x86/mm/fault.c:1489 arch/x86/mm/fault.c:1539) [ 88.809806] ? asm_exc_page_fault (./arch/x86/include/asm/idtentry.h:623) [ 88.810074] ? sfq_dequeue (net/sched/sch_sfq.c:272 net/sched/sch_sfq.c:499) sch_sfq [ 88.810411] sfq_reset (net/sched/sch_sfq.c:525) sch_sfq [ 88.810671] qdisc_reset (./include/linux/skbuff.h:2135 ./include/linux/skbuff.h:2441 ./include/linux/skbuff.h:3304 ./include/linux/skbuff.h:3310 net/sched/sch_g ---truncated---

Weakness: CWE-476

Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-50039?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2024-50039?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Is CVE-2024-50039 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-50039 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as AZL-51449, AZL-51482, BELL-CVE-2024-50039, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-50039, GHSA-mfc2-q3p4-2qjv, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-50039.