# CVE-2024-50301: security/keys: fix slab-out-of-bounds in key_task_permission

> A slab-out-of-bounds read in the Linux kernel key permission check allows attackers to cause denial of service or leak memory.

- **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:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-53429, AZL-53648, BELL-CVE-2024-50301, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-50301, GHSA-7h56-8w9m-w78x, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-50301

## What is CVE-2024-50301?

CVE-2024-50301 is a high-severity memory corruption 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:

security/keys: fix slab-out-of-bounds in key_task_permission

KASAN reports an out of bounds read:
BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in __kuid_val include/linux/uidgid.h:36
BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in uid_eq include/linux/uidgid.h:63 [inline]
BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in key_task_permission+0x394/0x410
security/keys/permission.c:54
Read of size 4 at addr ffff88813c3ab618 by task stress-ng/4362

CPU: 2 PID: 4362 Comm: stress-ng Not tainted 5.10.0-14930-gafbffd6c3ede #15
Call Trace:
 __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:82 [inline]
 dump_stack+0x107/0x167 lib/dump_stack.c:123
 print_address_description.constprop.0+0x19/0x170 mm/kasan/report.c:400
 __kasan_report.cold+0x6c/0x84 mm/kasan/report.c:560
 kasan_report+0x3a/0x50 mm/kasan/report.c:585
 __kuid_val include/linux/uidgid.h:36 [inline]
 uid_eq include/linux/uidgid.h:63 [inline]
 key_task_permission+0x394/0x410 security/keys/permission.c:54
 search_nested_keyrings+0x90e/0xe90 security/keys/keyring.c:793

This issue was also reported by syzbot.

It can be reproduced by following these steps(more details [1]):
1. Obtain more than 32 inputs that have similar hashes, which ends with the
   pattern '0xxxxxxxe6'.
2. Reboot and add the keys obtained in step 1.

The reproducer demonstrates how this issue happened:
1. In the search_nested_keyrings function, when it iterates through the
   slots in a node(below tag ascend_to_node), if the slot pointer is meta
   and node->back_pointer != NULL(it means a root), it will proceed to
   descend_to_node. However, there is an exception. If node is the root,
   and one of the slots points to a shortcut, it will be treated as a
   keyring.
2. Whether the ptr is keyring decided by keyring_ptr_is_keyring function.
   However, KEYRING_PTR_SUBTYPE is 0x2UL, the same as
   ASSOC_ARRAY_PTR_SUBTYPE_MASK.
3. When 32 keys with the similar hashes are added to the tree, the ROOT
   has keys with hashes that are not similar (e.g. slot 0) and it splits
   NODE A without using a shortcut. When NODE A is filled with keys that
   all hashes are xxe6, the keys are similar, NODE A will split with a
   shortcut. Finally, it forms the tree as shown below, where slot 6 points
   to a shortcut.

                      NODE A
              +------>+---+
      ROOT    |       | 0 | xxe6
      +---+   |       +---+
 xxxx | 0 | shortcut  :   : xxe6
      +---+   |       +---+
 xxe6 :   :   |       |   | xxe6
      +---+   |       +---+
      | 6 |---+       :   : xxe6
      +---+           +---+
 xxe6 :   :           | f | xxe6
      +---+           +---+
 xxe6 | f |
      +---+

4. As mentioned above, If a slot(slot 6) of the root points to a shortcut,
   it may be mistakenly transferred to a key*, leading to a read
   out-of-bounds read.

To fix this issue, one should jump to descend_to_node if the ptr is a
shortcut, regardless of whether the node is root or not.

[1] https://lore.kernel.org/linux-kernel/1cfa878e-8c7b-4570-8606-21daf5e13ce7@huaweicloud.com/

[jarkko: tweaked the commit message a bit to have an appropriate closes
 tag.]

Weakness: CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-50301?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-50301?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-50301 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-50301 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-2024-50301 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-50301 is a high-severity memory corruption 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-2024-50301 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-2024-50301/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-50301/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-50301
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-50301
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-50301

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-50301/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.