How severe is CVE-2024-49940?

CVE-2024-49940 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.

Is CVE-2024-49940 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (10th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2024-49940?

CVE-2024-49940 affects Linux Linux Kernel. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.

How do I fix CVE-2024-49940?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.

Does CVE-2024-49940 have an EU (EUVD) identifier?

Yes. CVE-2024-49940 is tracked in the ENISA EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD) as EUVD-2024-43621.

When was CVE-2024-49940 published?

CVE-2024-49940 was published on 2024-10-21 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2024-49940

CVE-2024-49940 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel with a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low.

Key facts

Severity: Medium (CVSS 3.x base score 5.5)
EPSS exploit prediction: 0% (10th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
EU (EUVD) id: EUVD-2024-43621
Affected product: Linux Linux Kernel
Published: 2024-10-21
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: l2tp: prevent possible tunnel refcount underflow When a session is created, it sets a backpointer to its tunnel. When the session refcount drops to 0, l2tp_session_free drops the tunnel refcount if session->tunnel is non-NULL. However, session->tunnel is set in l2tp_session_create, before the tunnel refcount is incremented by l2tp_session_register, which leaves a small window where session->tunnel is non-NULL when the tunnel refcount hasn't been bumped. Moving the assignment to l2tp_session_register is trivial but l2tp_session_create calls l2tp_session_set_header_len which uses session->tunnel to get the tunnel's encap. Add an encap arg to l2tp_session_set_header_len to avoid using session->tunnel. If l2tpv3 sessions have colliding IDs, it is possible for l2tp_v3_session_get to race with l2tp_session_register and fetch a session which doesn't yet have session->tunnel set. Add a check for this case.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2024-49940?: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: l2tp: prevent possible tunnel refcount underflow When a session is created, it sets a backpointer to its tunnel. When the session refcount drops to 0, l2tp_session_free drops the tunnel refcount if session->tunnel is non-NULL. However, session->tunnel is set in l2tp_session_create, before the tunnel refcount is incremented by l2tp_session_register, which leaves a small window where session->tunnel is non-NULL when the tunnel refcount hasn't been bumped. Moving the assignment to l2tp_session_register is trivial but l2tp_session_create calls l2tp_session_set_header_len which uses session->tunnel to get the tunnel's encap. Add an encap arg to l2tp_session_set_header_len to avoid using session->tunnel. If l2tpv3 sessions have colliding IDs, it is possible for l2tp_v3_session_get to race with l2tp_session_register and fetch a session which doesn't yet have session->tunnel set. Add a check for this case.
How severe is CVE-2024-49940?: CVE-2024-49940 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.
Is CVE-2024-49940 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (10th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2024-49940?: CVE-2024-49940 affects Linux Linux Kernel. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.
How do I fix CVE-2024-49940?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
Does CVE-2024-49940 have an EU (EUVD) identifier?: Yes. CVE-2024-49940 is tracked in the ENISA EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD) as EUVD-2024-43621.
When was CVE-2024-49940 published?: CVE-2024-49940 was published on 2024-10-21 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (1)

cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

More vulnerabilities in Linux Linux Kernel

CVE-2023-2163 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Incorrect verifier pruning in BPF in Linux Kernel >=5.4 leads to unsafe code paths being incorrectly marked as safe,…
CVE-2015-8104 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): The KVM subsystem in the Linux kernel through 4.2.6, and Xen 4.3.x through 4.6.x, allows guest OS users to cause a…
CVE-2015-1421 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Use-after-free vulnerability in the sctp_assoc_update function in net/sctp/associola.c in the Linux kernel before…
CVE-2014-2523 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_proto_dccp.c in the Linux kernel through 3.13.6 uses a DCCP header pointer incorrectly,…
CVE-2010-2495 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): The pppol2tp_xmit function in drivers/net/pppol2tp.c in the L2TP implementation in the Linux kernel before 2.6.34 does…
CVE-2010-2521 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Multiple buffer overflows in fs/nfsd/nfs4xdr.c in the XDR implementation in the NFS server in the Linux kernel before…

All CVEs affecting Linux Linux Kernel →