{"cve":"CVE-2024-26960","nvd":{"published":"2024-05-01T06:15:12.323","modified":"2026-10-15T01:17:34.180","status":"Modified","description":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nmm: swap: fix race between free_swap_and_cache() and swapoff()\n\nThere was previously a theoretical window where swapoff() could run and\nteardown a swap_info_struct while a call to free_swap_and_cache() was\nrunning in another thread.  This could cause, amongst other bad\npossibilities, swap_page_trans_huge_swapped() (called by\nfree_swap_and_cache()) to access the freed memory for swap_map.\n\nThis is a theoretical problem and I haven't been able to provoke it from a\ntest case.  But there has been agreement based on code review that this is\npossible (see link below).\n\nFix it by using get_swap_device()/put_swap_device(), which will stall\nswapoff().  There was an extra check in _swap_info_get() to confirm that\nthe swap entry was not free.  This isn't present in get_swap_device()\nbecause it doesn't make sense in general due to the race between getting\nthe reference and swapoff.  So I've added an equivalent check directly in\nfree_swap_and_cache().\n\nDetails of how to provoke one possible issue (thanks to David Hildenbrand\nfor deriving this):\n\n--8<-----\n\n__swap_entry_free() might be the last user and result in\n\"count == SWAP_HAS_CACHE\".\n\nswapoff->try_to_unuse() will stop as soon as soon as si->inuse_pages==0.\n\nSo the question is: could someone reclaim the folio and turn\nsi->inuse_pages==0, before we completed swap_page_trans_huge_swapped().\n\nImagine the following: 2 MiB folio in the swapcache. Only 2 subpages are\nstill references by swap entries.\n\nProcess 1 still references subpage 0 via swap entry.\nProcess 2 still references subpage 1 via swap entry.\n\nProcess 1 quits. Calls free_swap_and_cache().\n-> count == SWAP_HAS_CACHE\n[then, preempted in the hypervisor etc.]\n\nProcess 2 quits. Calls free_swap_and_cache().\n-> count == SWAP_HAS_CACHE\n\nProcess 2 goes ahead, passes swap_page_trans_huge_swapped(), and calls\n__try_to_reclaim_swap().\n\n__try_to_reclaim_swap()->folio_free_swap()->delete_from_swap_cache()->\nput_swap_folio()->free_swap_slot()->swapcache_free_entries()->\nswap_entry_free()->swap_range_free()->\n...\nWRITE_ONCE(si->inuse_pages, si->inuse_pages - nr_entries);\n\nWhat stops swapoff to succeed after process 2 reclaimed the swap cache\nbut before process1 finished its call to swap_page_trans_huge_swapped()?\n\n--8<-----","cvss_v4":null,"cvss_v3":{"version":"3.1","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","score":7.0},"cwes":["CWE-362"],"references":["https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0f98f6d2fb5fad00f8299b84b85b6bc1b6d7d19a","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1ede7f1d7eed1738d1b9333fd1e152ccb450b86a","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2da5568ee222ce0541bfe446a07998f92ed1643e","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/363d17e7f7907c8e27a9e86968af0eaa2301787b","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3ce4c4c653e4e478ecb15d3c88e690f12cbf6b39"],"products":["debian:debian_linux","linux:linux_kernel"],"source":"nvd","synced_at":"2026-10-19T21:49:08.435428910+00:00"},"epss":{"cve":"CVE-2024-26960","score":0.0018,"percentile":0.07503,"date":"2026-10-25"},"kev":null,"osv":[],"attribution":["This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.","EPSS scores: FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System, https://www.first.org/epss","Known exploited vulnerabilities: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","Package advisories: OSV (https://osv.dev), from the GitHub Advisory Database, PyPA, Go, RustSec and other ecosystem databases, under CC-BY 4.0 or CC0","CVE records: the CVE Program's CVE List (https://www.cve.org), under its terms of use (https://www.cve.org/Legal/TermsOfUse). CVE is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation; this product is not affiliated with the CVE Program."]}