boxscore/security
CVE · referencelatest edition

Reference page — cumulative record through Wednesday, August 19, 2026 UTC. Reference pages update as the archive grows; only dated daily editions are immutable pages of record.

CVE-2024-26921MEDIUM
Linux Linux — inet: inet_defrag: prevent sk release while still in use
  AV  AC  PR  UI  S  C  I  A   CVSS    EPSS   %ile   KEV
   L   L   L   N  U  N  N  H    5.5   .0040   32.9     —
AFFECTED
  Product  Versions                                    Fixed
  Linux    7026b1ddb6b8d4e6ee33dc2bd06c0ca8746fa7ab –  —
  Linux    4.1 –                                       5.4.285
TIMELINE
  Feb 19  Reserved by Linux
  Apr 18  Published (CNA: Linux)
  Aug 4   RESCORED — CVE-2024-26921 (Linux). CVSS 7.8 → 5.5 (NVD).
CNA: Linux · CVSS v3.1 · 8 references · NVD status: Modified

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: inet: inet_defrag: prevent sk release while still in use ip_local_out() and other functions can pass skb->sk as function argument. If the skb is a fragment and reassembly happens before such function call returns, the sk must not be released. This affects skb fragments reassembled via netfilter or similar modules, e.g. openvswitch or ct_act.c, when run as part of tx pipeline. Eric Dumazet made an initial analysis of this bug. Quoting Eric: Calling ip_defrag() in output path is also implying skb_orphan(), which is buggy because output path relies on sk not disappearing. A relevant old patch about the issue was : 8282f27449bf ("inet: frag: Always orphan skbs inside ip_defrag()") [..] net/ipv4/ip_output.c depends on skb->sk being set, and probably to an inet socket, not an arbitrary one. If we orphan the packet in ipvlan, then downstream things like FQ packet scheduler will not work properly. We need to change ip_defrag() to only use skb_orphan() when really needed, ie whenever frag_list is going to be used. Eric suggested to stash sk in fragment queue and made an initial patch. However there is a problem with this: If skb is refragmented again right after, ip_do_fragment() will copy head->sk to the new fragments, and sets up destructor to sock_wfree. IOW, we have no choice but to fix up sk_wmem accouting to reflect the fully reassembled skb, else wmem will underflow. This change moves the orphan down into the core, to last possible moment. As ip_defrag_offset is aliased with sk_buff->sk member, we must move the offset into the FRAG_CB, else skb->sk gets clobbered. This allows to delay the orphaning long enough to learn if the skb has to be queued or if the skb is completing the reasm queue. In the former case, things work as before, skb is orphaned. This is safe because skb gets queued/stolen and won't continue past reasm engine. In the latter case, we will steal the skb->sk reference, reattach it to the head skb, and fix up wmem accouting when inet_frag inflates truesize.

Lifecycle

Complete event history — 3 events, chronological
DateEventDetail
February 19, 2024ReservedReserved by Linux
April 18, 2024PublishedPublished (CNA: Linux)
August 4, 2026RESCOREDRESCORED — CVE-2024-26921 (Linux). CVSS 7.8 → 5.5 (NVD).

Affected

Affected products and packages — 2 rows
VendorProduct / PackageEcosystemVersion introducedFixed
LinuxLinux7026b1ddb6b8d4e6ee33dc2bd06c0ca8746fa7ab
LinuxLinux4.15.4.285

References (8)

Related

Authoritative record: CVE-2024-26921 at cve.org

Vendors: linux

About this page

This is a reference page, not a dated page of record. It assembles the complete lifecycle of CVE-2024-26921 from the CVE Program record, NVD enrichment, the CISA KEV catalog, EPSS, and OSV advisories. The box score's numbers (CVSS, EPSS, KEV status) are current as of Wednesday, August 19, 2026 UTC and are re-derived as the archive grows; only dated daily editions are immutable pages of record. The authoritative source for this identifier is cve.org.