CVE-2024-36971VulnerabilityPublished 14 Aug 2024Updated 1 Sep 2026

Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel security update

Affects Red HatSource GCVE Database

Exploited in the wild · KEV due 28 Aug 2024 · 2% EPSS : apply the vendor's fix or mitigations to Red Hat now.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

Exploitation

Actively exploited

High severity · No CVSS score from NVD or the CNA

KEV deadline: 28 Aug 2024 US federal agencies must patch by this date; a sensible deadline for everyone else.
EPSS: 2.7% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 85% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

Exploitation evidence

t = 0 is the CVE’s publication on cve.org

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 14 Aug 2024
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: evidence found.
Listed in CISA KEV 7 days before disclosure
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

Added to CISA KEV (opens in a new tab)
exploitation confirmed
2024-08-07, 7 days before disclosure
CVE published
on cve.org
2024-08-1415:02Z, t = 0
KEV remediation due
US federal deadline
2024-08-28, 14 days after disclosure

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), CISA KEV (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-25.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Red Hatredhat/kpatch-patch-5_14_0-284_48_1`pkg:rpm/redhat/kpatch-patch-5_14_0-284_48_1`Other threats	Affected =5.14.0-284.48.1.el9_2	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

Description

A use-after-free (UAF) vulnerability exists in the network route management component of the Linux kernel used in Red Hat Enterprise Linux. This vulnerability is addressed by a kernel live patch module for kernel version 5.14.0-284.48.1.el9_2. The patch can be applied using the kpatch utility to modify the running kernel without rebooting. The issue is tracked as CVE-2024-36971 and has been rated with an Important security impact by Red Hat.

Impact

The vulnerability allows a use-after-free condition in the kernel's network route management, which could potentially lead to system instability or security issues related to kernel memory corruption. Red Hat has rated the security impact as Important, indicating a high severity but not critical. There are no known exploits in the wild at this time.

Mitigation

Red Hat has released official live patch updates (kpatch-patch-5_14_0-284_48_1 and kpatch-patch-5_14_0-284_52_1) for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2 Extended Update Support. Applying these live patches via the kpatch utility will remediate the vulnerability without requiring a reboot. Users should follow Red Hat's official guidance for applying these updates as detailed in https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258. No additional mitigation steps are indicated by the vendor.

CWE-416Use After Free (opens in a new tab)
Variant weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #7
The 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.
Architecture and Design · Language Selection
Choose a language that provides automatic memory management.
Implementation · Attack Surface Reduction
When freeing pointers, be sure to set them to NULL once they are freed. However, the utilization of multiple or complex data structures may lower the usefulness of this strategy.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

Timeline

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 12 Sep 2026, 21:31 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-416

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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