CVE-2024-50293 net/smc: do not leave a dangling sk pointer in __smc_create()

High 7.8 Published 19 Nov 2024 Updated 5 Aug 2026

A dangling pointer in the Linux kernel's SMC socket creation can lead to use-after-free, potentially causing crashes or arbitrary code execution.

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-2024-50293?

CVE-2024-50293 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:

net/smc: do not leave a dangling sk pointer in __smc_create()

Thanks to commit 4bbd360a5084 ("socket: Print pf->create() when it does not clear sock->sk on failure."), syzbot found an issue with AF_SMC:

smc_create must clear sock->sk on failure, family: 43, type: 1, protocol: 0 WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 5827 at net/socket.c:1565 __sock_create+0x96f/0xa30 net/socket.c:1563 Modules linked in: CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 5827 Comm: syz-executor259 Not tainted 6.12.0-rc6-next-20241106-syzkaller #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 09/13/2024 RIP: 0010:__sock_create+0x96f/0xa30 net/socket.c:1563 Code: 03 00 74 08 4c 89 e7 e8 4f 3b 85 f8 49 8b 34 24 48 c7 c7 40 89 0c 8d 8b 54 24 04 8b 4c 24 0c 44 8b 44 24 08 e8 32 78 db f7 90 <0f> 0b 90 90 e9 d3 fd ff ff 89 e9 80 e1 07 fe c1 38 c1 0f 8c ee f7 RSP: 0018:ffffc90003e4fda0 EFLAGS: 00010246 RAX: 099c6f938c7f4700 RBX: 1ffffffff1a595fd RCX: ffff888034823c00 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 0000000000000000 RBP: 00000000ffffffe9 R08: ffffffff81567052 R09: 1ffff920007c9f50 R10: dffffc0000000000 R11: fffff520007c9f51 R12: ffffffff8d2cafe8 R13: 1ffffffff1a595fe R14: ffffffff9a789c40 R15: ffff8880764298c0 FS: 000055557b518380(0000) GS:ffff8880b8600000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007fa62ff43225 CR3: 0000000031628000 CR4: 00000000003526f0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: <TASK> sock_create net/socket.c:1616 [inline] __sys_socket_create net/socket.c:1653 [inline] __sys_socket+0x150/0x3c0 net/socket.c:1700 __do_sys_socket net/socket.c:1714 [inline] __se_sys_socket net/socket.c:1712 [inline]

For reference, see commit 2d859aff775d ("Merge branch 'do-not-leave-dangling-sk-pointers-in-pf-create-functions'")

Weakness: CWE-416

Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-50293?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2024-50293?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.

Is CVE-2024-50293 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-50293 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as BELL-CVE-2024-50293, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-50293, GHSA-px2p-6fmh-crpv, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-50293.