# CVE-2024-53109: nommu: pass NULL argument to vma_iter_prealloc()

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel nommu subsystem causes a crash when accessing VMA iterators, leading to denial of service.

- **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:** 2 Dec 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-54126, BELL-CVE-2024-53109, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-53109, GHSA-86gj-xr8h-wjf6, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-53109

## What is CVE-2024-53109?

CVE-2024-53109 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 2 Dec 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:

nommu: pass NULL argument to vma_iter_prealloc()

When deleting a vma entry from a maple tree, it has to pass NULL to
vma_iter_prealloc() in order to calculate internal state of the tree, but
it passed a wrong argument.  As a result, nommu kernels crashed upon
accessing a vma iterator, such as acct_collect() reading the size of vma
entries after do_munmap().

This commit fixes this issue by passing a right argument to the
preallocation call.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-53109?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-53109?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-53109 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-53109 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-2024-53109 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-53109 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 2 Dec 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-2024-53109 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-2024-53109/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-53109/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-53109
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-53109
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-53109

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-53109/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.