CVE-2024-41023

sched/deadline: Fix task_struct reference leak

MEDIUM
5.5
CVSS Score
Published: July 29, 2024 at 02:31 PM UTC
Updated: October 21, 2026 at 01:17 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

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Severity
MEDIUM5.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.4%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sched/deadline: Fix task_struct reference leak During the execution of the following stress test with linux-rt: stress-ng --cyclic 30 --timeout 30 --minimize --quiet kmemleak frequently reported a memory leak concerning the task_struct: unreferenced object 0xffff8881305b8000 (size 16136): comm "stress-ng", pid 614, jiffies 4294883961 (age 286.412s) object hex dump (first 32 bytes): 02 40 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 .@.............. 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ debug hex dump (first 16 bytes): 53 09 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 S............... backtrace: [<00000000046b6790>] dup_task_struct+0x30/0x540 [<00000000c5ca0f0b>] copy_process+0x3d9/0x50e0 [<00000000ced59777>] kernel_clone+0xb0/0x770 [<00000000a50befdc>] __do_sys_clone+0xb6/0xf0 [<000000001dbf2008>] do_syscall_64+0x5d/0xf0 [<00000000552900ff>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x6e/0x76 The issue occurs in start_dl_timer(), which increments the task_struct reference count and sets a timer. The timer callback, dl_task_timer, is supposed to decrement the reference count upon expiration. However, if enqueue_task_dl() is called before the timer expires and cancels it, the reference count is not decremented, leading to the leak. This patch fixes the reference leak by ensuring the task_struct reference count is properly decremented when the timer is canceled.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

4.19.257 ≤ v < 4.205.10 ≤ v < 6.9.105.4.212 ≤ v < 5.5184c8ab5342450c4ae6fc5d937f9bb06c620dcf14.19.2575.4.2126.106.10 rc16.10 rc26.10 rc36.10 rc46.10 rc56.10 rc66.10 rc7f0e1c1d8ff908a39dd42e723d08f104505dfa601feff2e65efd8d84cf831668e182b2ce73c604bbb
Vendor states this is fixed in 7a54d31face626f62de415ebe77b43f76c3ffaf4 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in b58652db66c910c2245f5bee7deca41c12d707b9 (fixed)
Affected range stops below 4.20, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.10 (unaffected)
Affected range stops below 5.5, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.10 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.6.160 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.9.10 (unaffected)

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-401

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