What is the CVSS score of CVE-2024-35899?

CVE-2024-35899 has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.3 (High). CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. EPSS exploitation probability: 0.0%.

Which versions of Linux Kernel are affected by CVE-2024-35899?

A use-after-free race condition in the Linux kernel netfilter nf_tables subsystem (CVE-2024-35899) allows local, low-privilege users to trigger kernel memory corruption during module teardown,…. A patch is available.

How to fix or mitigate CVE-2024-35899?

Within 24 hours, identify all systems running Linux kernel 6.8.0 or later with nf_tables module enabled and assess which are production-critical. Within 7 days, deploy the available kernel patch to affected systems through your standard patch management process, prioritizing production infrastructure and testing in non-production environments first. Within 30 days, verify patch deployment across all systems and document completion; for systems requiring scheduled maintenance windows or kernel recompilation, coordinate with infrastructure teams to minimize operational impact.

Linux Kernel CVE-2024-35899

HIGH

Race Condition (CWE-362)

2024-05-19 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Information Disclosure Linux Race Condition Debian Debian Linux

7.3

CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Severity by source

Vendor (416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67) PRIMARY

7.3 HIGH

AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

vuln.today AI

7.0 HIGH

Race condition requires precise kernel scheduling timing (AC:H); CAP_NET_ADMIN needed for nf_tables operations (PR:L); attacker can control both sides of the race without separate user interaction (UI:N).

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

4.0 AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67).

CVSS VectorVendor: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

Required

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Lifecycle Timeline

Analysis Updated

Aug 04, 2026 - 12:31 vuln.today

v3 (cvss_changed)

Analysis Updated

Aug 04, 2026 - 12:29 vuln.today

v2 (cvss_changed)

Analysis Updated

Aug 04, 2026 - 12:28 vuln.today

v1 (cvss_changed)

Re-analysis Queued

Aug 04, 2026 - 11:23 vuln.today

cvss_changed

Severity Changed

Aug 04, 2026 - 11:23 NVD

MEDIUM HIGH

CVSS changed

Aug 04, 2026 - 11:23 NVD

6.1 (MEDIUM) 7.3 (HIGH)

CVE Published

May 19, 2024 - 09:15 cve.org

MEDIUM 6.1

DescriptionCVE.org

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

netfilter: nf_tables: flush pending destroy work before exit_net release

Similar to 2c9f0293280e ("netfilter: nf_tables: flush pending destroy work before netlink notifier") to address a race between exit_net and the destroy workqueue.

The trace below shows an element to be released via destroy workqueue while exit_net path (triggered via module removal) has already released the set that is used in such transaction.

[ 1360.547789] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in nf_tables_trans_destroy_work+0x3f5/0x590 [nf_tables] [ 1360.547861] Read of size 8 at addr ffff888140500cc0 by task kworker/4:1/152465 [ 1360.547870] CPU: 4 PID: 152465 Comm: kworker/4:1 Not tainted 6.8.0+ #359 [ 1360.547882] Workqueue: events nf_tables_trans_destroy_work [nf_tables] [ 1360.547984] Call Trace: [ 1360.547991] <TASK> [ 1360.547998] dump_stack_lvl+0x53/0x70 [ 1360.548014] print_report+0xc4/0x610 [ 1360.548026] ? __virt_addr_valid+0xba/0x160 [ 1360.548040] ? __pfx__raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x10/0x10 [ 1360.548054] ? nf_tables_trans_destroy_work+0x3f5/0x590 [nf_tables] [ 1360.548176] kasan_report+0xae/0xe0 [ 1360.548189] ? nf_tables_trans_destroy_work+0x3f5/0x590 [nf_tables] [ 1360.548312] nf_tables_trans_destroy_work+0x3f5/0x590 [nf_tables] [ 1360.548447] ? __pfx_nf_tables_trans_destroy_work+0x10/0x10 [nf_tables] [ 1360.548577] ? _raw_spin_unlock_irq+0x18/0x30 [ 1360.548591] process_one_work+0x2f1/0x670 [ 1360.548610] worker_thread+0x4d3/0x760 [ 1360.548627] ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 [ 1360.548640] kthread+0x16b/0x1b0 [ 1360.548653] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [ 1360.548665] ret_from_fork+0x2f/0x50 [ 1360.548679] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [ 1360.548690] ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 [ 1360.548707] </TASK>

[ 1360.548719] Allocated by task 192061: [ 1360.548726] kasan_save_stack+0x20/0x40 [ 1360.548739] kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 [ 1360.548750] __kasan_kmalloc+0x8f/0xa0 [ 1360.548760] __kmalloc_node+0x1f1/0x450 [ 1360.548771] nf_tables_newset+0x10c7/0x1b50 [nf_tables] [ 1360.548883] nfnetlink_rcv_batch+0xbc4/0xdc0 [nfnetlink] [ 1360.548909] nfnetlink_rcv+0x1a8/0x1e0 [nfnetlink] [ 1360.548927] netlink_unicast+0x367/0x4f0 [ 1360.548935] netlink_sendmsg+0x34b/0x610 [ 1360.548944] ____sys_sendmsg+0x4d4/0x510 [ 1360.548953] ___sys_sendmsg+0xc9/0x120 [ 1360.548961] __sys_sendmsg+0xbe/0x140 [ 1360.548971] do_syscall_64+0x55/0x120 [ 1360.548982] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x55/0x5d

[ 1360.548994] Freed by task 192222: [ 1360.548999] kasan_save_stack+0x20/0x40 [ 1360.549009] kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 [ 1360.549019] kasan_save_free_info+0x3b/0x60 [ 1360.549028] poison_slab_object+0x100/0x180 [ 1360.549036] __kasan_slab_free+0x14/0x30 [ 1360.549042] kfree+0xb6/0x260 [ 1360.549049] __nft_release_table+0x473/0x6a0 [nf_tables] [ 1360.549131] nf_tables_exit_net+0x170/0x240 [nf_tables] [ 1360.549221] ops_exit_list+0x50/0xa0 [ 1360.549229] free_exit_list+0x101/0x140 [ 1360.549236] unregister_pernet_operations+0x107/0x160 [ 1360.549245] unregister_pernet_subsys+0x1c/0x30 [ 1360.549254] nf_tables_module_exit+0x43/0x80 [nf_tables] [ 1360.549345] __do_sys_delete_module+0x253/0x370 [ 1360.549352] do_syscall_64+0x55/0x120 [ 1360.549360] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x55/0x5d

(gdb) list *__nft_release_table+0x473 0x1e033 is in __nft_release_table (net/netfilter/nf_tables_api.c:11354). 11349 list_for_each_entry_safe(flowtable, nf, &table->flowtables, list) { 11350 list_del(&flowtable->list); 11351 nft_use_dec(&table->use); 11352 nf_tables_flowtable_destroy(flowtable); 11353 } 11354 list_for_each_entry_safe(set, ns, &table->sets, list) { 11355 list_del(&set->list); 11356 nft_use_dec(&table->use); 11357 if (set->flags & (NFT_SET_MAP | NFT_SET_OBJECT)) 11358 nft_map_deactivat ---truncated---

AnalysisAI

Use-after-free race condition in the Linux kernel netfilter nf_tables subsystem allows a local attacker with low privileges to trigger kernel memory corruption during module teardown. The race exists between the asynchronous destroy workqueue (nf_tables_trans_destroy_work) and the exit_net cleanup path (__nft_release_table), confirmed by KASAN stack traces captured on kernel 6.8.0+: when the nf_tables module is removed while pending set element destruction transactions remain queued, the exit_net path frees the owning set before the workqueue processes the element. No public exploit code has been identified and EPSS sits at 0.01%, reflecting negligible current exploitation probability; this is not in CISA KEV.

Technical ContextAI

The vulnerability resides in net/netfilter/nf_tables_api.c within the Linux kernel's nf_tables framework - the successor to iptables that provides a flexible, kernel-side packet classification engine accessed via the nfnetlink netlink socket family. The root cause is CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution Using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization): nf_tables defers element cleanup to an asynchronous workqueue (nf_tables_trans_destroy_work), but the exit_net teardown path in nf_tables_exit_net() calls __nft_release_table() to free sets without first flushing that workqueue. The result is a classic TOCTOU slab-use-after-free - the workqueue reads a set pointer at nf_tables_trans_destroy_work+0x3f5 that exit_net already freed via kfree inside __nft_release_table+0x473 (nf_tables_api.c:11354). The fix mirrors the earlier fix in commit 2c9f0293280e ('netfilter: nf_tables: flush pending destroy work before netlink notifier') by inserting a flush_work() call before the exit_net resource release. CPE data confirms impact across multiple Linux kernel stable branches including 6.9-rc1 and 6.9-rc2, as well as Debian Linux 10.0.

RemediationAI

Patches are available via seven commits to the Linux kernel stable tree, resolving the race by flushing pending destroy work before the exit_net path releases nf_tables resources. Key upstream commits include https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/24cea9677025e0de419989ecb692acd4bb34cac2, https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/333b5085522cf1898d5a0d92616046b414f631a7, https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/46c4481938e2ca62343b16ea83ab28f4c1733d31, https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4e8447a9a3d367b5065a0b7abe101da6e0037b6e, https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d2c9eb19fc3b11caebafde4c30a76a49203d18a6, https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f4e14695fe805eb0f0cb36e0ad6a560b9f985e86, and https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f7e3c88cc2a977c2b9a8aa52c1ce689e7b394e49. No precise fixed kernel release version number (e.g., 6.8.x) was confirmed in available data - consult your distribution for the exact patched package version. Debian users should apply the LTS update at https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2024/06/msg00017.html. Where immediate patching is not feasible, restricting CAP_NET_ADMIN to only trusted users and processes via Linux capability controls or seccomp profiles reduces exposure by preventing untrusted actors from creating nf_tables state; note this does not eliminate the race for privileged users who legitimately rely on nf_tables.