Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2024-38621
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 · uneditedIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: media: stk1160: fix bounds checking in stk1160_copy_video() The subtract in this condition is reversed. The ->length is the length of the buffer. The ->bytesused is how many bytes we have copied thus far. When the condition is reversed that means the result of the subtraction is always negative but since it's unsigned then the result is a very high positive value. That means the overflow check is never true. Additionally, the ->bytesused doesn't actually work for this purpose because we're not writing to "buf->mem + buf->bytesused". Instead, the math to calculate the destination where we are writing is a bit involved. You calculate the number of full lines already written, multiply by two, skip a line if necessary so that we start on an odd numbered line, and add the offset into the line. To fix this buffer overflow, just take the actual destination where we are writing, if the offset is already out of bounds print an error and return. Otherwise, write up to buf->length bytes.
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 analysisThe program writes past the bounds of a buffer, overwriting adjacent memory an attacker can turn to their advantage. Crafted input can overwrite control data and redirect execution. Remediation is validating every index and length before a write, plus modern memory-safety mitigations.
General guidance for the out-of-bounds write 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
>= 3.7, < 4.19.316>= 4.20, < 5.4.278>= 5.5, < 5.10.219>= 5.11, < 5.15.161>= 5.16, < 6.1.93>= 6.2, < 6.6.33>= 6.7, < 6.9.4CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 · scoped4.19.3165.4.2785.10.219
Upgrade to kernel 4.19.316+, 5.4.278+, 5.10.219+, or 5.15.161+ (depending on which branch is currently in use). For kernel 5.16+, the stk1160 driver was removed entirely.
- Identify the current Linux kernel version using 'uname -r'
- Determine which version branch the current kernel is from (e.g., 4.19.x, 5.4.x, 5.10.x, 5.15.x)
- Upgrade to a kernel version that includes the fix: for 4.19 branch use >=4.19.316, for 5.4 branch use >=5.4.278, for 5.10 branch use >=5.10.219, for 5.15 branch use >=5.161
- On kernels 5.16 and later, the stk1160 driver was removed from the kernel; if using 5.16+, consider whether the driver is needed or use an older supported kernel version
- After kernel upgrade, reboot the system and verify the new kernel is running with 'uname -r'
- Verify the stk1160 driver loads correctly if needed with 'lsmod | grep stk1160' or check video device nodes
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-38621 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-38621 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data