CVE-2024-26602: 
Linux Kernel vulnerability analysis and mitigation

CVE-2024-26602 is a vulnerability in the Linux kernel's scheduling subsystem, specifically in the sys_membarrier functionality. The vulnerability was discovered and disclosed on February 26, 2024. It affects Linux kernel versions from 4.14.0 up to versions before 4.19.307, 5.4.269, 5.10.210, and 5.15.149 (NVD).

The vulnerability exists in the sys_membarrier system call implementation, where on certain systems, the call can be very expensive and cause overall system slowdowns. The issue occurs when the system call is invoked at a high frequency, potentially leading to system saturation. The vulnerability has been assigned a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.5 (Medium) with vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H (NVD).

When exploited, this vulnerability can cause significant performance degradation on affected systems. The sys_membarrier call's expensive nature can lead to overall system slowdowns affecting all processes when called at high frequencies (Kernel Patch).

The vulnerability has been patched by implementing a lock mechanism to serialize accesses to the sys_membarrier functionality, preventing it from being called at too high a frequency. The fix has been incorporated into various Linux kernel versions and distributions, including Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Ubuntu (Red Hat Advisory, Ubuntu Security).