CVE-2024-43870

MEDIUM
Published Aug 21, 2024 Modified Nov 3, 2025 CWE-401

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: perf: Fix event leak upon exit When a task is scheduled out, pending sigtrap deliveries are deferred to the target task upon resume to userspace via task_work. However failures while adding an event's callback to the task_work engine are ignored. And since the last call for events exit happen after task work is eventually closed, there is a small window during which pending sigtrap can be queued though ignored, leaking the event refcount addition such as in the following scenario: TASK A ----- do_exit() exit_task_work(tsk); <IRQ> perf_event_overflow() event->pending_sigtrap = pending_id; irq_work_queue(&event->pending_irq); </IRQ> =========> PREEMPTION: TASK A -> TASK B event_sched_out() event->pending_sigtrap = 0; atomic_long_inc_not_zero(&event->refcount) // FAILS: task work has exited task_work_add(&event->pending_task) [...] <IRQ WORK> perf_pending_irq() // early return: event->oncpu = -1 </IRQ WORK> [...] =========> TASK B -> TASK A perf_event_exit_task(tsk) perf_event_exit_event() free_event() WARN(atomic_long_cmpxchg(&event->refcount, 1, 0) != 1) // leak event due to unexpected refcount == 2 As a result the event is never released while the task exits. Fix this with appropriate task_work_add()'s error handling.

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CVSS v3.1 Score

5.5
MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-401 CWE-401

Affected Products

Vendor Product
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2024-43870? +
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: perf: Fix event leak upon exit When a task is scheduled out, pending sigtrap deliveries are deferred to the target task upon resume to userspace via task_work. However failures while adding an event's callback to the task_work engine are ignored. And since the last call for events exit happen after task work is eventually closed, there is a small window during which pending sigtrap can be queued though ignored, leaking the event refcount addition such as in the following scenario: TASK A ----- do_exit() exit_task_work(tsk); <IRQ> perf_event_overflow() event->pending_sigtrap = pending_id; irq_work_queue(&event->pending_irq); </IRQ> =========> PREEMPTION: TASK A -> TASK B event_sched_out() event->pending_sigtrap = 0; atomic_long_inc_not_zero(&event->refcount) // FAILS: task work has exited task_work_add(&event->pending_task) [...] <IRQ WORK> perf_pending_irq() // early return: event->oncpu = -1 </IRQ WORK> [...] =========> TASK B -> TASK A perf_event_exit_task(tsk) perf_event_exit_event() free_event() WARN(atomic_long_cmpxchg(&event->refcount, 1, 0) != 1) // leak event due to unexpected refcount == 2 As a result the event is never released while the task exits. Fix this with appropriate task_work_add()'s error handling. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.5 (MEDIUM).
How severe is CVE-2024-43870? +
CVE-2024-43870 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 5.5 out of 10, rated MEDIUM. This is a medium-severity vulnerability that should be remediated as part of regular maintenance.
What products are affected by CVE-2024-43870? +
CVE-2024-43870 affects products from linux, specifically: linux_kernel. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.
How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2024-43870? +
You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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