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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2024-40945

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-07-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.4.279 / 5.10.221 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: Return right value in iommu_sva_bind_device() iommu_sva_bind_device() should return either a sva bond handle or an ERR_PTR value in error cases. Existing drivers (idxd and uacce) only check the return value with IS_ERR(). This could potentially lead to a kernel NULL pointer dereference issue if the function returns NULL instead of an error pointer. In reality, this doesn't cause any problems because iommu_sva_bind_device() only returns NULL when the kernel is not configured with CONFIG_IOMMU_SVA. In this case, iommu_dev_enable_feature(dev, IOMMU_DEV_FEAT_SVA) will return an error, and the device drivers won't call iommu_sva_bind_device() at all.

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:>= 5.2, < 5.4.279>= 5.5, < 5.10.221>= 5.11, < 5.15.162>= 5.16, < 6.6.35>= 6.7, < 6.9.6= 6.10

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 5.4.279 / 5.10.221 / 5.15.162 or later
Fixed in 5.4.2795.10.2215.15.162
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel 5.4.279, 5.10.221, 5.15.162, or 6.6.35 (or later) depending on your current branch

  1. Identify your current kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Determine which version branch your kernel follows (e.g., 5.15.x, 6.6.x, etc.)
  3. Upgrade to a fixed kernel version: 5.4.279+, 5.10.221+, 5.15.162+, or 6.6.35+ depending on your branch
  4. Update your package manager's kernel package (e.g., `apt update && apt upgrade` for Debian/Ubuntu, `yum update` for RHEL/CentOS)
  5. Reboot the system to load the new kernel
  6. Verify the new kernel version is running with `uname -r` and confirm it includes the fix
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require reboot and could introduce compatibility changes with out-of-tree modules or custom drivers; test in staging environment first

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

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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-2024-40945 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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