Cyber Resilience

CVE-2024-35854

Memory Safety in Linux Kernel 5.1 – 5.4.275

Published
17 May 2024
Modified
04 August 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0057 45th percentile
Risk Priority 59 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2024-35854 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203); ranked at the 45th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mlxsw: spectrum_acl_tcam: Fix possible use-after-free during rehash The rehash delayed work migrates filters from one region to another according to the number of available credits. The migrated from region is…

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destroyed at the end of the work if the number of credits is non-negative as the assumption is that this is indicative of migration being complete. This assumption is incorrect as a non-negative number of credits can also be the result of a failed migration. The destruction of a region that still has filters referencing it can result in a use-after-free [1]. Fix by not destroying the region if migration failed. [1] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in mlxsw_sp_acl_ctcam_region_entry_remove+0x21d/0x230 Read of size 8 at addr ffff8881735319e8 by task kworker/0:31/3858 CPU: 0 PID: 3858 Comm: kworker/0:31 Tainted: G W 6.9.0-rc2-custom-00782-gf2275c2157d8 #5 Hardware name: Mellanox Technologies Ltd. MSN3700/VMOD0005, BIOS 5.11 01/06/2019 Workqueue: mlxsw_core mlxsw_sp_acl_tcam_vregion_rehash_work Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0xc6/0x120 print_report+0xce/0x670 kasan_report+0xd7/0x110 mlxsw_sp_acl_ctcam_region_entry_remove+0x21d/0x230 mlxsw_sp_acl_ctcam_entry_del+0x2e/0x70 mlxsw_sp_acl_atcam_entry_del+0x81/0x210 mlxsw_sp_acl_tcam_vchunk_migrate_all+0x3cd/0xb50 mlxsw_sp_acl_tcam_vregion_rehash_work+0x157/0x1300 process_one_work+0x8eb/0x19b0 worker_thread+0x6c9/0xf70 kthread+0x2c9/0x3b0 ret_from_fork+0x4d/0x80 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 </TASK> Allocated by task 174: kasan_save_stack+0x33/0x60 kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 __kasan_kmalloc+0x8f/0xa0 __kmalloc+0x19c/0x360 mlxsw_sp_acl_tcam_region_create+0xdf/0x9c0 mlxsw_sp_acl_tcam_vregion_rehash_work+0x954/0x1300 process_one_work+0x8eb/0x19b0 worker_thread+0x6c9/0xf70 kthread+0x2c9/0x3b0 ret_from_fork+0x4d/0x80 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 Freed by task 7: kasan_save_stack+0x33/0x60 kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 kasan_save_free_info+0x3b/0x60 poison_slab_object+0x102/0x170 __kasan_slab_free+0x14/0x30 kfree+0xc1/0x290 mlxsw_sp_acl_tcam_region_destroy+0x272/0x310 mlxsw_sp_acl_tcam_vregion_rehash_work+0x731/0x1300 process_one_work+0x8eb/0x19b0 worker_thread+0x6c9/0xf70 kthread+0x2c9/0x3b0 ret_from_fork+0x4d/0x80 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

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CVE-2025-38350Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-38212Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2024-47730Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2024-49960Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-37849Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-38323Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2024-35811Same product: Debian Debian Linux

Affected Assets

linux
linux kernel
6.9 · 5.1 — 5.4.275 · 5.5 — 5.10.216 · 5.11 — 5.15.158
debian
debian linux
10.0

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.3

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation can discover use-after-free bugs through dynamic analysis or fuzzing.

Engineering principles can require memory-safe constructs or languages that structurally avoid introducing use-after-free.

Process isolation confines the blast radius of use-after-free memory corruption to a single execution domain.

Memory protection controls limit exploitation impact by blocking unauthorized code execution from dangling pointers.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly incorporate memory-safety tooling and reviews that prevent most use-after-free defects.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes can discover use-after-free issues via scanning or analysis but do not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching removes known use-after-free instances after they have been introduced in released software.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing in development can detect use-after-free bugs before release.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates memory-safety practices that reduce use-after-free defects.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify memory-management rules that mitigate use-after-free.

prevents

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety design choices that limit use-after-free exposure.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe avoidance of use-after-free patterns.

prevents

Change-management processes help ensure memory-safety fixes are deployed consistently.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
  • V-248592 OL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
  • V-230279 RHEL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416
RHEL 9 (1 rule)
  • V-257794 RHEL 9 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416

References