CVE-2024-50182: Linux kernel · secretmem: disable memfd_secret() if arch cannot set direct map
Affects Linux kernelSource GCVE Database
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.1 High · fixed in 5.15.0-1080.87~20.04.1 : patch Linux kernel soon.
Data as of 29 Oct 2026, 22:34 UTC
- Patch
- Available – fixed in 5.15.0-1080.87~20.04.1, 5.15.0-1081.90~20.04.1, 5.15.0-1077.86~20.04.1 +62
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:NExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 8 Nov 2024
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 29 Oct 2026.
What to do
Upgrade to a fixed release listed under Affected software.
Patches and advisories
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7276-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7277-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7288-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7289-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7291-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7288-2 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7289-2 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7289-3 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7305-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7289-4 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7308-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7310-1 (opens in a new tab)
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSlinuxpkg:deb/ubuntu/linux?arch=source&distro=nobleOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in
|
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSlinux-awspkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-aws?arch=source&distro=nobleOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in
|
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSlinux-azurepkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure?arch=source&distro=nobleOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in
|
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSlinux-azure-6.11pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure-6.11?arch=source&distro=nobleOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in
|
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSlinux-azure-nvidiapkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure-nvidia?arch=source&distro=nobleOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in
|
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSlinux-gcppkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-gcp?arch=source&distro=nobleOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in
|
Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: secretmem: disable memfd_secret() if arch cannot set direct map Return -ENOSYS from memfd_secret() syscall if !can_set_direct_map(). This is the case for example on some arm64 configurations, where marking 4k PTEs in the direct map not present can only be done if the direct map is set up at 4k granularity in the first place (as ARM's break-before-make semantics do not easily allow breaking apart large/gigantic pages). More precisely, on arm64 systems with !can_set_direct_map(), set_direct_map_invalid_noflush() is a no-op, however it returns success (0) instead of an error. This means that memfd_secret will seemingly "work" (e.g. syscall succeeds, you can mmap the fd and fault in pages), but it does not actually achieve its goal of removing its memory from the direct map. Note that with this patch, memfd_secret() will start erroring on systems where can_set_direct_map() returns false (arm64 with CONFIG_RODATA_FULL_DEFAULT_ENABLED=n, CONFIG_DEBUG_PAGEALLOC=n and CONFIG_KFENCE=n), but that still seems better than the current silent failure. Since CONFIG_RODATA_FULL_DEFAULT_ENABLED defaults to 'y', most arm64 systems actually have a working memfd_secret() and aren't be affected. From going through the iterations of the original memfd_secret patch series, it seems that disabling the syscall in these scenarios was the intended behavior [1] (preferred over having set_direct_map_invalid_noflush return an error as that would result in SIGBUSes at page-fault time), however the check for it got dropped between v16 [2] and v17 [3], when secretmem moved away from CMA allocations. [1]: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20201124164930.GK8537@kernel.org/ [2]: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20210121122723.3446-11-rppt@kernel.org/#t [3]: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20201125092208.12544-10-rppt@kernel.org/
References
- ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2024-50182 (opens in a new tab)
- cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-50182 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/linus/532b53cebe58f34ce1c0f34d866f5c0e335c53c6 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/d0ae6ffa1aeb297aef89f49cfb894a83c329ebad (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/5ea0b7af38754d2b45ead9257bca47e84662e926 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/7caf966390e6e4ebf42775df54e7ee1f280ce677 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/757786abe4547eb3d9d0e8350a63bdb0f9824af2 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/532b53cebe58f34ce1c0f34d866f5c0e335c53c6 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7276-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7277-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7288-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7289-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7291-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7288-2 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7289-2 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7289-3 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7305-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7289-4 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7308-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7310-1 (opens in a new tab)