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CVE Record

CVE-2024-26780: af_unix: Fix task hung while purging oob_skb in GC.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: af_unix: Fix task hung while purging oob_skb in GC. syzbot reported a task hung; at the same time, GC was looping infinitely in list_for_each_entry_safe() for OOB skb. [0] syzbot demonstrated that the list_for_each_entry_safe() was not actually safe in this case. A single skb could have references for multiple sockets. If we free such a skb in the list_for_each_entry_safe(), the current and next sockets could be unlinked in a single iteration. unix_notinflight() uses list_del_init() to unlink the socket, so the prefetched next socket forms a loop itself and list_for_each_entry_safe() never stops. Here, we must use while() and make sure we always fetch the first socket. [0]: Sending NMI from CPU 0 to CPUs 1: NMI backtrace for cpu 1 CPU: 1 PID: 5065 Comm: syz-executor236 Not tainted 6.8.0-rc3-syzkaller-00136-g1f719a2f3fa6 #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 01/25/2024 RIP: 0010:preempt_count arch/x86/include/asm/preempt.h:26 [inline] RIP: 0010:check_kcov_mode kernel/kcov.c:173 [inline] RIP: 0010:__sanitizer_cov_trace_pc+0xd/0x60 kernel/kcov.c:207 Code: cc cc cc cc 66 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 f3 0f 1e fa 65 48 8b 14 25 40 c2 03 00 <65> 8b 05 b4 7c 78 7e a9 00 01 ff 00 48 8b 34 24 74 0f f6 c4 01 74 RSP: 0018:ffffc900033efa58 EFLAGS: 00000283 RAX: ffff88807b077800 RBX: ffff88807b077800 RCX: 1ffffffff27b1189 RDX: ffff88802a5a3b80 RSI: ffffffff8968488d RDI: ffff88807b077f70 RBP: ffffc900033efbb0 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: fffffbfff27a900c R10: ffffffff93d48067 R11: ffffffff8ae000eb R12: ffff88807b077800 R13: dffffc0000000000 R14: ffff88807b077e40 R15: 0000000000000001 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8880b9500000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000564f4fc1e3a8 CR3: 000000000d57a000 CR4: 00000000003506f0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: <NMI> </NMI> <TASK> unix_gc+0x563/0x13b0 net/unix/garbage.c:319 unix_release_sock+0xa93/0xf80 net/unix/af_unix.c:683 unix_release+0x91/0xf0 net/unix/af_unix.c:1064 __sock_release+0xb0/0x270 net/socket.c:659 sock_close+0x1c/0x30 net/socket.c:1421 __fput+0x270/0xb80 fs/file_table.c:376 task_work_run+0x14f/0x250 kernel/task_work.c:180 exit_task_work include/linux/task_work.h:38 [inline] do_exit+0xa8a/0x2ad0 kernel/exit.c:871 do_group_exit+0xd4/0x2a0 kernel/exit.c:1020 __do_sys_exit_group kernel/exit.c:1031 [inline] __se_sys_exit_group kernel/exit.c:1029 [inline] __x64_sys_exit_group+0x3e/0x50 kernel/exit.c:1029 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xd5/0x270 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x6f/0x77 RIP: 0033:0x7f9d6cbdac09 Code: Unable to access opcode bytes at 0x7f9d6cbdabdf. RSP: 002b:00007fff5952feb8 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 00000000000000e7 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: 00007f9d6cbdac09 RDX: 000000000000003c RSI: 00000000000000e7 RDI: 0000000000000000 RBP: 00007f9d6cc552b0 R08: ffffffffffffffb8 R09: 0000000000000006 R10: 0000000000000006 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 00007f9d6cc552b0 R13: 0000000000000000 R14: 00007f9d6cc55d00 R15: 00007f9d6cbabe70 </TASK>

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

CVE-2024-26780 is a Linux kernel flaw in AF_UNIX socket cleanup. A malformed object lifetime during garbage collection can make the kernel loop indefinitely and hang a task. The business risk is mainly availability, not confirmed data theft or remote compromise.

Executive priority

Treat this as a normal-priority kernel availability fix unless the environment has dense multi-tenant Linux hosts or untrusted local workloads. There is no source-backed evidence of active exploitation, but kernel hangs can affect service reliability.

Technical view

The bug is in net/unix garbage collection while purging oob_skb. One skb may be referenced by multiple sockets; freeing it inside list_for_each_entry_safe() can unlink both current and prefetched next sockets, causing the iterator to loop forever. The fix changes iteration to repeatedly fetch the first socket.

Likely exposure

Exposure is likely limited to Linux systems running kernel builds before the relevant stable fixes for this AF_UNIX code path. The bundle lists Linux kernel fix references and versions 6.1.78, 6.6.17, and 6.7.5, but affected range details are incomplete.

Exploitation context

The source describes a syzbot-triggered task hang on Linux 6.8.0-rc3 syzkaller testing. KEV is false, and the provided sources do not report active exploitation, public weaponization, remote reachability, privilege escalation, or data exposure.

Researcher notes

The root cause is unsafe list iteration after unix_notinflight() uses list_del_init() during OOB skb purge. The source evidence supports an infinite loop/task hang condition. It does not provide CVSS, CWE, exploitability boundaries, or full affected-version ranges.

Mitigation direction

  • Update Linux kernels through the distribution or vendor-supported kernel channel.
  • Prioritize systems where local users, containers, or workloads can exercise AF_UNIX sockets.
  • Check vendor advisories for fixed package versions and backported patches.
  • Track the listed kernel stable commits when validating custom kernels.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory Linux kernel versions across servers, containers hosts, and appliances.
  • Compare running kernels with vendor fixed versions or the listed stable commits.
  • Confirm reboot into the patched kernel after package installation.
  • Review kernel logs for task hung reports involving unix_gc or af_unix.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
7

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

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CVE-2024-26780 mapping review

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Unknown
CVSS
Not scored
Known Exploited
No
Published
Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

0CVSS vectors
3Timeline events
2ADP providers
6Source links

SSVC decision data

CISA-ADPCISA Coordinator
Timestamp
Version
2.0.3
Exploitation: noneAutomatable: noTechnical Impact: partial

Vulnerability timeline

Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.

  1. CVE reservedCVE Program

    The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.

  2. CVE publishedCVE Program

    The CVE record was published.

  3. CVE updatedCVE Program

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ADP provider summaries

CVECVE Program Container
CISA-ADPCISA ADP Vulnrichment
other:ssvc

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
LinuxLinux4fe505c63aa3273135a57597fda761e9aecc7668, e0e09186d8821ad59806115d347ea32efa43ca4b, b74aa9ce13d02b7fd37c5325b99854f91b9b4276, 82ae47c5c3a6b27fdc0f9e83c1499cb439c56140, 1279f9d9dec2d7462823a18c29ad61359e0a007dunaffected
LinuxLinux6.1.78, 6.6.17, 6.7.5unaffected
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

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