Cyber Resilience

CVE-2024-39503

Memory Safety in Linux Kernel 5.4.269 – 5.4.279

Memory SafetyRace Condition
Published
12 July 2024
Modified
04 August 2026
Patch / advisory
View 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 0.0022 12th percentile
Risk Priority 55 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-2024-39503 is a high-severity Race Condition (CWE-362) 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 12th 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.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A06:2025 Insecure Design

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: ipset: Fix race between namespace cleanup and gc in the list:set type Lion Ackermann reported that there is a race condition between namespace cleanup in ipset and the garbage…

more

collection of the list:set type. The namespace cleanup can destroy the list:set type of sets while the gc of the set type is waiting to run in rcu cleanup. The latter uses data from the destroyed set which thus leads use after free. The patch contains the following parts: - When destroying all sets, first remove the garbage collectors, then wait if needed and then destroy the sets. - Fix the badly ordered "wait then remove gc" for the destroy a single set case. - Fix the missing rcu locking in the list:set type in the userspace test case. - Use proper RCU list handlings in the list:set type. The patch depends on c1193d9bbbd3 (netfilter: ipset: Add list flush to cancel_gc).

CWE(s)
CWE-362CWE-416

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

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

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-52502Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2025-21718Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2024-36899Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2023-35827Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2023-52847Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2024-56556Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2024-49981Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2024-56664Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2024-53186Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2023-3397Same product: Linux Linux Kernel

Affected Assets

linux
linux kernel
6.10, 6.8 · 5.4.269 — 5.4.279 · 5.10.210 — 5.10.221 · 5.15.149 — 5.15.162

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)
  • V10.4.2
  • V10.4.5
  • V15.1.3
  • V15.4.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

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

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

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

SC-39 Process Isolation partial match

Maintaining separate execution domains for each process structurally eliminates unintended concurrent access to the same shared resources.

SC-4 Information in Shared System Resources partial match

Preventing unintended information transfer through shared system resources directly addresses the improper concurrent modification that defines a race condition.

SI-16 Memory Protection partial match

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 require proper synchronization primitives and concurrency testing that prevent race conditions.

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.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing can detect race conditions, but does not prevent them at design or coding time.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC mandates concurrency controls and synchronization primitives that directly prevent race conditions.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can specify thread-safety and locking rules, but do not prescribe implementation details.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles require proper synchronization and resource isolation, addressing the root cause of CWE-362.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe concurrent access patterns and mandate atomic operations or locks.

A.8.32 Change management partial match
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