Linux Kernel up to 6.6.67/6.12.6 SMB Client get_net_track use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as critical has been reported in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.67/6.12.6. This affects the function get_net_track of the component SMB Client. This manipulation causes use after free. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2024-54680. There is not any exploit available. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.67/6.12.6. It has been declared as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function get_net_track of the component SMB Client. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: smb: client: fix TCP timers deadlock after rmmod Commit ef7134c7fc48 ("smb: client: Fix use-after-free of network namespace.") fixed a netns UAF by manually enabled socket refcounting (sk->sk_net_refcnt=1 and sock_inuse_add(net, 1)). The reason the patch worked for that bug was because we now hold references to the netns (get_net_track() gets a ref internally) and they're properly released (internally, on __sk_destruct()), but only because sk->sk_net_refcnt was set. Problem: (this happens regardless of CONFIG_NET_NS_REFCNT_TRACKER and regardless if init_net or other) Setting sk->sk_net_refcnt=1 *manually* and *after* socket creation is not only out of cifs scope, but also technically wrong -- it's set conditionally based on user (=1) vs kernel (=0) sockets. And net/ implementations seem to base their user vs kernel space operations on it. e.g. upon TCP socket close, the TCP timers are not cleared because sk->sk_net_refcnt=1: (cf. commit 151c9c724d05 ("tcp: properly terminate timers for kernel sockets")) net/ipv4/tcp.c: void tcp_close(struct sock *sk, long timeout) { lock_sock(sk); __tcp_close(sk, timeout); release_sock(sk); if (!sk->sk_net_refcnt) inet_csk_clear_xmit_timers_sync(sk); sock_put(sk); } Which will throw a lockdep warning and then, as expected, deadlock on tcp_write_timer(). A way to reproduce this is by running the reproducer from ef7134c7fc48 and then 'rmmod cifs'. A few seconds later, the deadlock/lockdep warning shows up. Fix: We shouldn't mess with socket internals ourselves, so do not set sk_net_refcnt manually. Also change __sock_create() to sock_create_kern() for explicitness. As for non-init_net network namespaces, we deal with it the best way we can -- hold an extra netns reference for server->ssocket and drop it when it's released. This ensures that the netns still exists whenever we need to create/destroy server->ssocket, but is not directly tied to it.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2024-54680 since 01/11/2025. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 01/25/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 233479 (Ubuntu 24.10 : Linux kernel (Low Latency) vulnerabilities (USN-7380-1)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.6.68 or 6.12.7 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 906807c734ed219dcb2e7bbfde5c4168ed72a3d0/127e907e11ccd54b59bb78fc22c43ccb76c71079/e9f2517a3e18a54a3943c098d2226b245d488801 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (233479) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-0047). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Dell NetWorker
• Dell Avamar
• Red Hat OpenShift
• IBM QRadar SIEM
• Dell PowerProtect Data Domain
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• Dell Secure Connect Gateway

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.6.0
• 6.6.1
• 6.6.2
• 6.6.3
• 6.6.4
• 6.6.5
• 6.6.6
• 6.6.7
• 6.6.8
• 6.6.9
• 6.6.10
• 6.6.11
• 6.6.12
• 6.6.13
• 6.6.14
• 6.6.15
• 6.6.16
• 6.6.17
• 6.6.18
• 6.6.19
• 6.6.20
• 6.6.21
• 6.6.22
• 6.6.23
• 6.6.24
• 6.6.25
• 6.6.26
• 6.6.27
• 6.6.28
• 6.6.29
• 6.6.30
• 6.6.31
• 6.6.32
• 6.6.33
• 6.6.34
• 6.6.35
• 6.6.36
• 6.6.37
• 6.6.38
• 6.6.39
• 6.6.40
• 6.6.41
• 6.6.42
• 6.6.43
• 6.6.44
• 6.6.45
• 6.6.46
• 6.6.47
• 6.6.48
• 6.6.49
• 6.6.50
• 6.6.51
• 6.6.52
• 6.6.53
• 6.6.54
• 6.6.55
• 6.6.56
• 6.6.57
• 6.6.58
• 6.6.59
• 6.6.60
• 6.6.61
• 6.6.62
• 6.6.63
• 6.6.64
• 6.6.65
• 6.6.66
• 6.6.67
• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4
• 6.12.5
• 6.12.6

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

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