# CVE-2024-50280: dm cache: fix flushing uninitialized delayed_work on cache_ctr error

> A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's dm cache module can cause a system crash when cache creation fails due to uninitialized work structures.

- **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:** 19 Nov 2024
- **Updated:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-50280, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-50280, GHSA-r79x-wgrg-2v77, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2024-50280, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-50280

## What is CVE-2024-50280?

CVE-2024-50280 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 Nov 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:

dm cache: fix flushing uninitialized delayed_work on cache_ctr error

An unexpected WARN_ON from flush_work() may occur when cache creation
fails, caused by destroying the uninitialized delayed_work waker in the
error path of cache_create(). For example, the warning appears on the
superblock checksum error.

Reproduce steps:

dmsetup create cmeta --table "0 8192 linear /dev/sdc 0"
dmsetup create cdata --table "0 65536 linear /dev/sdc 8192"
dmsetup create corig --table "0 524288 linear /dev/sdc 262144"
dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/mapper/cmeta bs=4k count=1 oflag=direct
dmsetup create cache --table "0 524288 cache /dev/mapper/cmeta \
/dev/mapper/cdata /dev/mapper/corig 128 2 metadata2 writethrough smq 0"

Kernel logs:

(snip)
WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 84 at kernel/workqueue.c:4178 __flush_work+0x5d4/0x890

Fix by pulling out the cancel_delayed_work_sync() from the constructor's
error path. This patch doesn't affect the use-after-free fix for
concurrent dm_resume and dm_destroy (commit 6a459d8edbdb ("dm cache: Fix
UAF in destroy()")) as cache_dtr is not changed.

Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-50280?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-50280?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-50280 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-50280 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-2024-50280 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-50280 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 Nov 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-2024-50280 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-2024-50280/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-50280/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-50280
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-50280
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-50280

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-50280/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.