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NULL Pointer DereferenceWeakness · CWE-476

CVE-2024-37820

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-06-25
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
60/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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
A nil pointer dereference in PingCAP TiDB v8.2.0-alpha-216-gfe5858b allows attackers to crash the application via expression.inferCollation.

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 nil pointer dereference vulnerability exists in PingCAP TiDB v8.2.0-alpha-216-gfe5858b within the expression.inferCollation function. Attackers can trigger this vulnerability to cause a null pointer dereference, resulting in application crash and denial of service.

MitigationApply the vendor patch or upgrade to a stable TiDB version that addresses the nil pointer dereference in expression.inferCollation. Implement proper null checks in the affected function if a custom build is required.

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low

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

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. Check TiDB server version
    Run `SELECT tidb_version();` to retrieve the exact TiDB version string
    Affected if The version shows v8.2.0-alpha-216 or any alpha build close to this version (e.g., v8.2.0-alpha-2XX)
  2. Confirm alpha/nightly build status
    Examine the version string for alpha or nightly indicators - the vulnerability is in an alpha release
    Affected if The version contains 'alpha' and the commit hash or build number is near gfe5858b (e.g., alpha-216 or similar)
  3. Verify collation inference is being used
    Check if the inferCollation function is exercised - this occurs during SQL operations that involve collation inference such as comparing strings with different collations or using collation-aware functions
    Affected if Queries involving string comparisons, COLLATE clauses, or collation-aware operations are being executed against the database
  4. Check for crash logs or nil pointer errors
    Review TiDB error logs for nil pointer dereference errors related to 'inferCollation' or 'expression' package
    Affected if Logs contain panic entries showing nil pointer dereference in the expression.inferCollation function

You are affected if running TiDB v8.2.0-alpha-216 or nearby alpha builds and executing SQL operations that trigger the inferCollation function, which will cause a crash.

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

Apply the vendor patch or upgrade to a stable TiDB version that addresses the nil pointer dereference in expression.inferCollation. Implement proper null checks in the affected function if a custom build is required.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
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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-2024-37820 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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