NULL Pointer DereferenceWeakness · CWE-476

CVE-2024-24194

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-06-06
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
robdns commit d76d2e6 was discovered to contain a NULL pointer dereference via the item->tokens component at /src/conf-parse.c.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability exists in robdns (commit d76d2e6) within the configuration parsing logic at /src/conf-parse.c. The vulnerability occurs when attempting to access the item->tokens component without proper NULL validation, causing the application to crash when processing certain configuration inputs.

MitigationImplement NULL pointer checks before accessing item->tokens in the configuration parsing routine to prevent dereferencing uninitialized or NULL token pointers.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify if robdns is installed
    Search for robdns binary or source code in the system using 'which robdns' or check for /src/conf-parse.c in source directories
    Affected if robdns binary or source code exists on the system
  2. Determine the robdns version or commit
    Check the git commit hash if using source, or look for version information in the binary using 'robdns --version' or inspecting the source repository
    Affected if The installed version corresponds to commit d76d2e6 or earlier where the vulnerable code exists
  3. Verify the vulnerable code path exists
    Inspect /src/conf-parse.c and search for code that accesses item->tokens without prior NULL validation. Look for patterns like 'item->tokens[' or 'item->tokens->' that lack preceding NULL checks
    Affected if The code at /src/conf-parse.c accesses item->tokens without checking if item or item->tokens is NULL first
  4. Check if configuration parsing is enabled
    Determine if robdns is configured to parse configuration files at startup. This is typically the default behavior; check if any config files are loaded at runtime
    Affected if Robdns parses configuration files, which triggers the vulnerable code path in conf-parse.c
  5. Test for crash condition
    Provide a crafted configuration input that would trigger the NULL dereference and observe if the application crashes. Examine configuration inputs for conditions that could leave tokens uninitialized or NULL
    Affected if A configuration input causes item->tokens to be NULL when accessed, leading to a crash

A system is affected if it runs robdns from commit d76d2e6 or earlier, parses configuration files, and has code in /src/conf-parse.c that dereferences item->tokens without NULL validation.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement NULL pointer checks before accessing item->tokens in the configuration parsing routine to prevent dereferencing uninitialized or NULL token pointers.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-24194 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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