CVE-2024-26953

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: esp: fix bad handling of pages from page_pool When the skb is reorganized during esp_output (!esp->inline), the pages coming from the original skb fragments are supposed to be released back to the system through put_page. But if the skb fragment pages are originating from a page_pool, calling put_page on them will trigger a page_pool leak which will eventually result in a crash. This leak can be easily observed when using CONFIG_DEBUG_VM and doing ipsec + gre (non offloaded) forwarding: BUG: Bad page state in process ksoftirqd/16 pfn:1451b6 page:00000000de2b8d32 refcount:0 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000 index:0x1451b6000 pfn:0x1451b6 flags: 0x200000000000000(node=0|zone=2) page_type: 0xffffffff() raw: 0200000000000000 dead000000000040 ffff88810d23c000 0000000000000000 raw: 00000001451b6000 0000000000000001 00000000ffffffff 0000000000000000 page dumped because: page_pool leak Modules linked in: ip_gre gre mlx5_ib mlx5_core xt_conntrack xt_MASQUERADE nf_conntrack_netlink nfnetlink iptable_nat nf_nat xt_addrtype br_netfilter rpcrdma rdma_ucm ib_iser libiscsi scsi_transport_iscsi ib_umad rdma_cm ib_ipoib iw_cm ib_cm ib_uverbs ib_core overlay zram zsmalloc fuse [last unloaded: mlx5_core] CPU: 16 PID: 96 Comm: ksoftirqd/16 Not tainted 6.8.0-rc4+ #22 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS rel-1.13.0-0-gf21b5a4aeb02-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x36/0x50 bad_page+0x70/0xf0 free_unref_page_prepare+0x27a/0x460 free_unref_page+0x38/0x120 esp_ssg_unref.isra.0+0x15f/0x200 esp_output_tail+0x66d/0x780 esp_xmit+0x2c5/0x360 validate_xmit_xfrm+0x313/0x370 ? validate_xmit_skb+0x1d/0x330 validate_xmit_skb_list+0x4c/0x70 sch_direct_xmit+0x23e/0x350 __dev_queue_xmit+0x337/0xba0 ? nf_hook_slow+0x3f/0xd0 ip_finish_output2+0x25e/0x580 iptunnel_xmit+0x19b/0x240 ip_tunnel_xmit+0x5fb/0xb60 ipgre_xmit+0x14d/0x280 [ip_gre] dev_hard_start_xmit+0xc3/0x1c0 __dev_queue_xmit+0x208/0xba0 ? nf_hook_slow+0x3f/0xd0 ip_finish_output2+0x1ca/0x580 ip_sublist_rcv_finish+0x32/0x40 ip_sublist_rcv+0x1b2/0x1f0 ? ip_rcv_finish_core.constprop.0+0x460/0x460 ip_list_rcv+0x103/0x130 __netif_receive_skb_list_core+0x181/0x1e0 netif_receive_skb_list_internal+0x1b3/0x2c0 napi_gro_receive+0xc8/0x200 gro_cell_poll+0x52/0x90 __napi_poll+0x25/0x1a0 net_rx_action+0x28e/0x300 __do_softirq+0xc3/0x276 ? sort_range+0x20/0x20 run_ksoftirqd+0x1e/0x30 smpboot_thread_fn+0xa6/0x130 kthread+0xcd/0x100 ? kthread_complete_and_exit+0x20/0x20 ret_from_fork+0x31/0x50 ? kthread_complete_and_exit+0x20/0x20 ret_from_fork_asm+0x11/0x20 </TASK> The suggested fix is to introduce a new wrapper (skb_page_unref) that covers page refcounting for page_pool pages as well.

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2024-05-01
Last modified 2025-09-18
CVSS version 3.1
Patch available
Awaiting data

CVSS 3.1 score

5.5

out of 10
Medium
Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Vector string
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2024-26953 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Frequently asked questions

  • What is CVE-2024-26953?

    CVE-2024-26953 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 . CVE-2024-26953 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • What is the CVSS score for CVE-2024-26953?

    CVE-2024-26953 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H .

  • Is there a patch available for CVE-2024-26953?

    No patch is currently available for CVE-2024-26953. Monitor the NIST NVD and your Linux distribution's security advisories for updates.

  • Is CVE-2024-26953 actively exploited?

    No — CVE-2024-26953 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.