# CVE-2024-56761: x86/fred: Clear WFE in missing-ENDBRANCH #CPs

> A flaw in the Linux kernel's FRED implementation causes a CPU dead loop during specific control-flow protection faults, leading to system denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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:** 6 Jan 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-55029, BELL-CVE-2024-56761, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-56761, GHSA-q9hp-vwf8-w58f, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-56761

## What is CVE-2024-56761?

CVE-2024-56761 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 6 Jan 2025. 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:

x86/fred: Clear WFE in missing-ENDBRANCH #CPs

An indirect branch instruction sets the CPU indirect branch tracker
(IBT) into WAIT_FOR_ENDBRANCH (WFE) state and WFE stays asserted
across the instruction boundary.  When the decoder finds an
inappropriate instruction while WFE is set ENDBR, the CPU raises a #CP
fault.

For the "kernel IBT no ENDBR" selftest where #CPs are deliberately
triggered, the WFE state of the interrupted context needs to be
cleared to let execution continue.  Otherwise when the CPU resumes
from the instruction that just caused the previous #CP, another
missing-ENDBRANCH #CP is raised and the CPU enters a dead loop.

This is not a problem with IDT because it doesn't preserve WFE and
IRET doesn't set WFE.  But FRED provides space on the entry stack
(in an expanded CS area) to save and restore the WFE state, thus the
WFE state is no longer clobbered, so software must clear it.

Clear WFE to avoid dead looping in ibt_clear_fred_wfe() and the
!ibt_fatal code path when execution is allowed to continue.

Clobbering WFE in any other circumstance is a security-relevant bug.

[ dhansen: changelog rewording ]

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-56761?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-56761?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-56761 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-56761 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-2024-56761 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-56761 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 6 Jan 2025. 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-2024-56761 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-2024-56761/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-56761/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-56761
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-56761
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-56761

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-56761/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.