CVE-2024-1085: Use-after-free in Linux kernel's netfilter: nf_tables component

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2024-1085 is a high (CVSS 7.8) Use After Free vulnerability in linux kernel. EPSS estimates a 0.28% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 20.7% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 31-01-2024
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 29-05-2025
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's netfilter: nf_tables component can be exploited to achieve local privilege escalation. The nft_setelem_catchall_deactivate() function checks whether the catch-all set element is active in the current generation instead of the next generation before freeing it, but only flags it inactive in the next generation, making it possible to free the element multiple times, leading to a double free vulnerability. We recommend upgrading past commit b1db244ffd041a49ecc9618e8feb6b5c1afcdaa7.

• CWE-416Use After FreeThe product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.