# CVE-2024-53160: rcu/kvfree: Fix data-race in __mod_timer / kvfree_call_rcu

> A data race in the Linux kernel's RCU subsystem can lead to system instability or crashes, requiring a kernel patch.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:** 24 Dec 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-53160, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-53160, GHSA-cxq4-g7mm-8h76, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-53160

## What is CVE-2024-53160?

CVE-2024-53160 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 24 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:

rcu/kvfree: Fix data-race in __mod_timer / kvfree_call_rcu

KCSAN reports a data race when access the krcp->monitor_work.timer.expires
variable in the schedule_delayed_monitor_work() function:

<snip>
BUG: KCSAN: data-race in __mod_timer / kvfree_call_rcu

read to 0xffff888237d1cce8 of 8 bytes by task 10149 on cpu 1:
 schedule_delayed_monitor_work kernel/rcu/tree.c:3520 [inline]
 kvfree_call_rcu+0x3b8/0x510 kernel/rcu/tree.c:3839
 trie_update_elem+0x47c/0x620 kernel/bpf/lpm_trie.c:441
 bpf_map_update_value+0x324/0x350 kernel/bpf/syscall.c:203
 generic_map_update_batch+0x401/0x520 kernel/bpf/syscall.c:1849
 bpf_map_do_batch+0x28c/0x3f0 kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5143
 __sys_bpf+0x2e5/0x7a0
 __do_sys_bpf kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5741 [inline]
 __se_sys_bpf kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5739 [inline]
 __x64_sys_bpf+0x43/0x50 kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5739
 x64_sys_call+0x2625/0x2d60 arch/x86/include/generated/asm/syscalls_64.h:322
 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline]
 do_syscall_64+0xc9/0x1c0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83
 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f

write to 0xffff888237d1cce8 of 8 bytes by task 56 on cpu 0:
 __mod_timer+0x578/0x7f0 kernel/time/timer.c:1173
 add_timer_global+0x51/0x70 kernel/time/timer.c:1330
 __queue_delayed_work+0x127/0x1a0 kernel/workqueue.c:2523
 queue_delayed_work_on+0xdf/0x190 kernel/workqueue.c:2552
 queue_delayed_work include/linux/workqueue.h:677 [inline]
 schedule_delayed_monitor_work kernel/rcu/tree.c:3525 [inline]
 kfree_rcu_monitor+0x5e8/0x660 kernel/rcu/tree.c:3643
 process_one_work kernel/workqueue.c:3229 [inline]
 process_scheduled_works+0x483/0x9a0 kernel/workqueue.c:3310
 worker_thread+0x51d/0x6f0 kernel/workqueue.c:3391
 kthread+0x1d1/0x210 kernel/kthread.c:389
 ret_from_fork+0x4b/0x60 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:147
 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:244

Reported by Kernel Concurrency Sanitizer on:
CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 56 Comm: kworker/u8:4 Not tainted 6.12.0-rc2-syzkaller-00050-g5b7c893ed5ed #0
Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 09/13/2024
Workqueue: events_unbound kfree_rcu_monitor
<snip>

kfree_rcu_monitor() rearms the work if a "krcp" has to be still
offloaded and this is done without holding krcp->lock, whereas
the kvfree_call_rcu() holds it.

Fix it by acquiring the "krcp->lock" for kfree_rcu_monitor() so
both functions do not race anymore.

Weakness: CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-53160?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-53160?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-53160 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-53160 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-2024-53160 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-53160 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 24 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-2024-53160 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-2024-53160/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-53160/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-53160
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-53160
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-53160

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-53160/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
