CVE-2024-26951: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wireguard: netlink: check for dangling peer via is_dead instead of empty list If...

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wireguard: netlink: check for dangling peer via is_dead instead of empty list If all peers are removed via wg_peer_remove_all(), rather than setting peer_list to empty, the peer is added to a temporary list with a head on the stack of wg_peer_remove_all(). If a netlink dump is resumed and the cursored peer is one that has been removed via wg_peer_remove_all(), it will iterate from that peer and then attempt to dump freed peers. Fix this by instead checking peer->is_dead, which was explictly created for this purpose. Also move up the device_update_lock lockdep assertion, since reading is_dead relies on that. It can be reproduced by a small script like: echo "Setting config..." ip link add dev wg0 type wireguard wg setconf wg0 /big-config ( while true; do echo "Showing config..." wg showconf wg0 > /dev/null done ) & sleep 4 wg setconf wg0 <(printf "[Peer]\nPublicKey=$(wg genkey)\n") Resulting in: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in __lock_acquire+0x182a/0x1b20 Read of size 8 at addr ffff88811956ec70 by task wg/59 CPU: 2 PID: 59 Comm: wg Not tainted 6.8.0-rc2-debug+ #5 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x47/0x70 print_address_description.constprop.0+0x2c/0x380 print_report+0xab/0x250 kasan_report+0xba/0xf0 __lock_acquire+0x182a/0x1b20 lock_acquire+0x191/0x4b0 down_read+0x80/0x440 get_peer+0x140/0xcb0 wg_get_device_dump+0x471/0x1130

Metrics

CVSS 3.1

7.8/10

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

EPSS Probability

0.23%

14.2th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Weakness Enumeration

CWE-416

Affected Software

Vendor	Product	Versions
Linux	Linux Kernel	>= 5.6, < 5.10.215
Linux	Linux Kernel	>= 5.11, < 5.15.154
Linux	Linux Kernel	>= 5.16, < 6.1.84
Linux	Linux Kernel	>= 6.2, < 6.6.24
Linux	Linux Kernel	>= 6.7, < 6.7.12
Linux	Linux Kernel	>= 6.8, < 6.8.3
Debian	Debian Linux	10.0

References

Timeline

Published: May 1, 2024
Last Modified: Jun 17, 2026
Status: Modified

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2024-26951?

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wireguard: netlink: check for dangling peer via is_dead instead of empty list If all peers are removed via wg_peer_remove_all(), rather than setting peer_list to empty, the peer is added to a temporary list with a head on the stack of wg_peer_remove_all(). If a netlink dump is resumed and the cursored peer is one that has been removed via wg_peer_remove_all(), it will iterate from that peer and then attempt to dump freed peers. Fix this by instead checking peer->is_dead, which was explictly created for this purpose. Also move up the device_update_lock lockdep assertion, since reading is_dead relies on that. It can be reproduced by a small script like: echo "Setting config..." ip link add dev wg0 type wireguard wg setconf wg0 /big-config ( while true; do echo "Showing config..." wg showconf wg0 > /dev/null done ) & sleep 4 wg setconf wg0 <(printf "[Peer]\nPublicKey=$(wg genkey)\n") Resulting in: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in __lock_acquire+0x182a/0x1b20 Read of size 8 at addr ffff88811956ec70 by task wg/59 CPU: 2 PID: 59 Comm: wg Not tainted 6.8.0-rc2-debug+ #5 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x47/0x70 print_address_description.constprop.0+0x2c/0x380 print_report+0xab/0x250 kasan_report+0xba/0xf0 __lock_acquire+0x182a/0x1b20 lock_acquire+0x191/0x4b0 down_read+0x80/0x440 get_peer+0x140/0xcb0 wg_get_device_dump+0x471/0x1130

How severe is CVE-2024-26951?

CVE-2024-26951 has a CVSS score of 7.8/10 (HIGH severity). The EPSS model estimates a 0.23% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

How do I fix CVE-2024-26951?

Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.