CVE-2024-53179

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel. A race condition in the Server Message Block (SMB) client during session setup and request signing can lead to a use-after-free condition. This issue occurs when the client attempts to access an authentication signing key that has already been released from memory. A local attacker could exploit this flaw to cause a denial of service (DoS) by crashing the system, or potentially execute arbitrary code.

The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.

Prevent the cifs kernel module from being loaded if SMB/CIFS client functionality is not required:

1. Create a configuration file to disable module autoloading:

echo "install cifs /bin/true" > /etc/modprobe.d/disable-cifs.conf

2. If the module is already loaded, unload it:

modprobe -r cifs

Caveats: Disabling the cifs module prevents the system from mounting remote SMB and CIFS network shares. Unloading the kernel module or rebooting the system to apply this change may disrupt active network shares and services dependent on them.