CVE Intelligence
High Memory corruption

CVE-2024-40958 — netns: Make get_net_ns() handle zero refcount net

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netns: Make get_net_ns() handle zero refcount net Syzkaller hit a warning: refcount_t: addition on 0; use-after-free. WARNING: CPU: 3 PID: 7890 at lib/refcount.c:25 refcount_warn_saturate+0xdf/0x1d0 Modules linked in: CPU: 3 PID: 7890 Comm: tun Not tainted 6.10.0-rc3-00100-gcaa4f9578aba-dirty #310 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.15.0-1 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:refcount_warn_saturate+0xdf/0x1d0 Code: 41 49 04 31 ff 89 de e8 9f 1e cd fe 84 db 75 9c e8 76 26 cd fe c6 05 b6 41 49 04 01 90 48 c7 c7 b8 8e 25 86 e8 d2 05 b5 fe 90 <0f> 0b 90 90 e9 79 ff ff ff e8 53 26 cd fe 0f b6 1 RSP: 0018:ffff8881067b7da0 EFLAGS: 00010286 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: ffffffff811c72ac RDX: ffff8881026a2140 RSI: ffffffff811c72b5 RDI: 0000000000000001 RBP: ffff8881067b7db0 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 205b5d3730353139 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 205d303938375420 R12: ffff8881086500c4 R13: ffff8881086500c4 R14: ffff8881086500b0 R15: ffff888108650040 FS: 00007f5b2961a4c0(0000) GS:ffff88823bd00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 000055d7ed36fd18 CR3: 00000001482f6000 CR4: 00000000000006f0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: <TASK> ? show_regs+0xa3/0xc0 ? __warn+0xa5/0x1c0 ? refcount_warn_saturate+0xdf/0x1d0 ? report_bug+0x1fc/0x2d0 ? refcount_warn_saturate+0xdf/0x1d0 ? handle_bug+0xa1/0x110 ? exc_invalid_op+0x3c/0xb0 ? asm_exc_invalid_op+0x1f/0x30 ? __warn_printk+0xcc/0x140 ? __warn_printk+0xd5/0x140 ? refcount_warn_saturate+0xdf/0x1d0 get_net_ns+0xa4/0xc0 ? __pfx_get_net_ns+0x10/0x10 open_related_ns+0x5a/0x130 __tun_chr_ioctl+0x1616/0x2370 ? __sanitizer_cov_trace_switch+0x58/0xa0 ? __sanitizer_cov_trace_const_cmp2+0x1c/0x30 ? __pfx_tun_chr_ioctl+0x10/0x10 tun_chr_ioctl+0x2f/0x40 __x64_sys_ioctl+0x11b/0x160 x64_sys_call+0x1211/0x20d0 do_syscall_64+0x9e/0x1d0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f RIP: 0033:0x7f5b28f165d7 Code: b3 66 90 48 8b 05 b1 48 2d 00 64 c7 00 26 00 00 00 48 c7 c0 ff ff ff ff c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 b8 10 00 00 00 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 8b 0d 81 48 2d 00 8 RSP: 002b:00007ffc2b59c5e8 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000010 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: 00007f5b28f165d7 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 00000000000054e3 RDI: 0000000000000003 RBP: 00007ffc2b59c650 R08: 00007f5b291ed8c0 R09: 00007f5b2961a4c0 R10: 0000000029690010 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 0000000000400730 R13: 00007ffc2b59cf40 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 0000000000000000 </TASK> Kernel panic - not syncing: kernel: panic_on_warn set ... This is trigger as below: ns0 ns1 tun_set_iff() //dev is tun0 tun->dev = dev //ip link set tun0 netns ns1 put_net() //ref is 0 __tun_chr_ioctl() //TUNGETDEVNETNS net = dev_net(tun->dev); open_related_ns(&net->ns, get_net_ns); //ns1 get_net_ns() get_net() //addition on 0 Use maybe_get_net() in get_net_ns in case net's ref is zero to fix this

Published Jul 12, 2024 · Updated Oct 14, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP, GitHub Security Advisories · CNA: Linux

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.
How the score was calculated
  • EPSS 0.3% (30-day exploitation probability)+3
  • Technical severity (high)+6

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation
Not confirmed
Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.
EPSS FIRST
0.27%
ahead of 18% of scored CVEs · Oct 14, 2026
Affects
Linux
Linux and 1 more
CVSS base
7.8
High · 4 source(s)

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation
None
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
No
can an attacker script the kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Partial
partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Linux Linux, Linux Linux Kernel).
  2. Apply the fixed version or the patch documented under Remediation.
  3. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (memory corruption), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Linux Linux version 5.2≥ 0c3e0e3bb623c3735b8c9ab8aa8332f944f83a9f and < ff960f9d3edbe08a736b5a224d91a305ccc946b0≥ 0c3e0e3bb623c3735b8c9ab8aa8332f944f83a9f and < 3af28df0d883e8c89a29ac31bc65f9023485743b≥ 0c3e0e3bb623c3735b8c9ab8aa8332f944f83a9f and < ef0394ca25953ea0eddcc82feae1f750451f1876≥ 0c3e0e3bb623c3735b8c9ab8aa8332f944f83a9f and < 1b631bffcb2c09551888f3c723f4365c91fe05ef≥ 0c3e0e3bb623c3735b8c9ab8aa8332f944f83a9f and < cb7f811f638a14590ff98f53c6dd1fb54627d940≥ 0c3e0e3bb623c3735b8c9ab8aa8332f944f83a9f and < 2b82028a1f5ee3a8e04090776b10c534144ae77b≥ 0c3e0e3bb623c3735b8c9ab8aa8332f944f83a9f and < 3a6cd326ead7c8bb1f64486789a01974a9f1ad55 Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Linux Linux Kernel version 6.10-rc4≥ 5.2 and < 5.4.279version 6.10-rc3version 6.10-rc2version 6.10-rc1≥ 6.7 and < 6.9.7≥ 6.2 and < 6.6.36≥ 5.16 and < 6.1.96
and 2 more ≥ 5.11 and < 5.15.162≥ 5.5 and < 5.10.221
Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
7.8 CVSS 3.1 High 1.8 5.9 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 via NIST National Vulnerability Database
7.8 CVSS 3.1 High 1.8 5.9 nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database
7.8 CVSS 3.1 High — — GitHub, Inc. via GitHub Security Advisories
7.8 CVSS 3.1 High — — Linux via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H (score shown at the top: nvd@nist.gov)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-416 · Use After Free

Other CVEs with this weakness →

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Local/physical vector: focus on endpoint telemetry (EDR) from affected hosts.
  • Correlate service crashes/restarts with inbound traffic; repeated crashes may indicate attempts.
endpoint telemetry (EDR)crash dumps

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • Affected products added · linux/linux
    Oct 14, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • SSVC assessment updated
    Oct 14, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 14, 2026
  • Fix documented
    Oct 14, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Affected products added · linux/linux kernel
    Oct 14, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVSS changed · 7.8
    Oct 14, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Modified
    Oct 14, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 14, 2026 · Alertas do Telegram
  • 2024
  • CVE published
    Jul 12, 2024 · Linux

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 2× References added · Oct 14, 2026 – Oct 14, 2026
  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 14, 2026 – Oct 14, 2026

References

13 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Linux
every CVE for this vendor
Memory corruption
same class
CWE-416
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-99999 ipv4: validate checksum_start before completing checksum 7h
  • CVE-2026-98432 ipv4: free inet_opt and ireq_opt after an RCU grace period 7h
  • CVE-2026-98424 wifi: cfg80211: undo netns switch if renaming the wiphy fails 1d
  • CVE-2026-98425 wifi: mac80211: don't warn when an IBSS has no channel to scan 1d
  • CVE-2026-98426 wifi: mwifiex: fix IRQ leak using wrong index in MSI-X error path 1d
  • CVE-2026-98427 net/sched: codel: bound the dropping loop per dequeue call 1d

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2024-40958 is "netns: Make get_net_ns() handle zero refcount net", rated High. It affects Linux (Linux); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 7.8 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.27% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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