Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2024-36884

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-30
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.8.10 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click Patch available

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
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: iommu/arm-smmu: Use the correct type in nvidia_smmu_context_fault() This was missed because of the function pointer indirection. nvidia_smmu_context_fault() is also installed as a irq function, and the 'void *' was changed to a struct arm_smmu_domain. Since the iommu_domain is embedded at a non-zero offset this causes nvidia_smmu_context_fault() to miscompute the offset. Fixup the types. Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000120 Mem abort info: ESR = 0x0000000096000004 EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits SET = 0, FnV = 0 EA = 0, S1PTW = 0 FSC = 0x04: level 0 translation fault Data abort info: ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000004, ISS2 = 0x00000000 CM = 0, WnR = 0, TnD = 0, TagAccess = 0 GCS = 0, Overlay = 0, DirtyBit = 0, Xs = 0 user pgtable: 4k pages, 48-bit VAs, pgdp=0000000107c9f000 [0000000000000120] pgd=0000000000000000, p4d=0000000000000000 Internal error: Oops: 0000000096000004 [#1] SMP Modules linked in: CPU: 1 PID: 47 Comm: kworker/u25:0 Not tainted 6.9.0-0.rc7.58.eln136.aarch64 #1 Hardware name: Unknown NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX/NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX, BIOS 3.1-32827747 03/19/2023 Workqueue: events_unbound deferred_probe_work_func pstate: 604000c9 (nZCv daIF +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) pc : nvidia_smmu_context_fault+0x1c/0x158 lr : __free_irq+0x1d4/0x2e8 sp : ffff80008044b6f0 x29: ffff80008044b6f0 x28: ffff000080a60b18 x27: ffffd32b5172e970 x26: 0000000000000000 x25: ffff0000802f5aac x24: ffff0000802f5a30 x23: ffff0000802f5b60 x22: 0000000000000057 x21: 0000000000000000 x20: ffff0000802f5a00 x19: ffff000087d4cd80 x18: ffffffffffffffff x17: 6234362066666666 x16: 6630303078302d30 x15: ffff00008156d888 x14: 0000000000000000 x13: ffff0000801db910 x12: ffff00008156d6d0 x11: 0000000000000003 x10: ffff0000801db918 x9 : ffffd32b50f94d9c x8 : 1fffe0001032fda1 x7 : ffff00008197ed00 x6 : 000000000000000f x5 : 000000000000010e x4 : 000000000000010e x3 : 0000000000000000 x2 : ffffd32b51720cd8 x1 : ffff000087e6f700 x0 : 0000000000000057 Call trace: nvidia_smmu_context_fault+0x1c/0x158 __free_irq+0x1d4/0x2e8 free_irq+0x3c/0x80 devm_free_irq+0x64/0xa8 arm_smmu_domain_free+0xc4/0x158 iommu_domain_free+0x44/0xa0 iommu_deinit_device+0xd0/0xf8 __iommu_group_remove_device+0xcc/0xe0 iommu_bus_notifier+0x64/0xa8 notifier_call_chain+0x78/0x148 blocking_notifier_call_chain+0x4c/0x90 bus_notify+0x44/0x70 device_del+0x264/0x3e8 pci_remove_bus_device+0x84/0x120 pci_remove_root_bus+0x5c/0xc0 dw_pcie_host_deinit+0x38/0xe0 tegra_pcie_config_rp+0xc0/0x1f0 tegra_pcie_dw_probe+0x34c/0x700 platform_probe+0x70/0xe8 really_probe+0xc8/0x3a0 __driver_probe_device+0x84/0x160 driver_probe_device+0x44/0x130 __device_attach_driver+0xc4/0x170 bus_for_each_drv+0x90/0x100 __device_attach+0xa8/0x1c8 device_initial_probe+0x1c/0x30 bus_probe_device+0xb0/0xc0 deferred_probe_work_func+0xbc/0x120 process_one_work+0x194/0x490 worker_thread+0x284/0x3b0 kthread+0xf4/0x108 ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 Code: a9b97bfd 910003fd a9025bf5 f85a0035 (b94122a1)

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-476

The code follows a pointer that is null, crashing the process. An attacker who can reliably trigger it turns the crash into a denial of service. The fix is checking for null before use and handling the failure path gracefully.

General guidance for the null pointer dereference class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 6.8, < 6.8.10

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

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

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.8.10 or later
Fixed in 6.8.10
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 6.8.10 or later

  1. Upgrade Linux kernel to version 6.8.10 or later to obtain the fix
  2. The patch corrects the type in nvidia_smmu_context_fault() from void* back to the correct struct arm_smmu_domain type, fixing the offset miscalculation that caused the NULL pointer dereference
  3. If kernel upgrade is not immediately possible, the specific commit 65ade5653f5ab5a21635e51d0c65e95f490f5b6f can be backported to the current kernel
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require coordination with other system components; ensure compatibility with existing drivers and firmware

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $2,850. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2024-36884 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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