Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2024-41091

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-07-29
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.4.281 / 5.10.223 or later.
See remediation →
73/100
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: tun: add missing verification for short frame The cited commit missed to check against the validity of the frame length in the tun_xdp_one() path, which could cause a corrupted skb to be sent downstack. Even before the skb is transmitted, the tun_xdp_one-->eth_type_trans() may access the Ethernet header although it can be less than ETH_HLEN. Once transmitted, this could either cause out-of-bound access beyond the actual length, or confuse the underlayer with incorrect or inconsistent header length in the skb metadata. In the alternative path, tun_get_user() already prohibits short frame which has the length less than Ethernet header size from being transmitted for IFF_TAP. This is to drop any frame shorter than the Ethernet header size just like how tun_get_user() does. CVE: CVE-2024-41091

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-125

The code reads past the end (or before the start) of a buffer, returning memory that was never meant to be exposed. Attackers use it to leak secrets like keys or to defeat memory-protection defences. Remediation is validating indices and lengths before every read.

General guidance for the out-of-bounds read 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:>= 4.20, < 5.4.281>= 5.5, < 5.10.223>= 5.11, < 5.15.164>= 5.16, < 6.1.102>= 6.2, < 6.6.43>= 6.7, < 6.9.12>= 6.10, < 6.10.2

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
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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.4.281 / 5.10.223 / 5.15.164 or later
Fixed in 5.4.2815.10.2235.15.164
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux kernel 6.1.102 or later (or the respective stable patch for your branch: 5.4.281, 5.10.223, 5.15.164)

  1. Apply the kernel patch from commit 049584807f1d797fc3078b68035450a9769eb5c3 to the affected kernel source
  2. The patch adds a check in tun_xdp_one() to drop frames shorter than ETH_HLEN (14 bytes) before calling eth_type_trans()
  3. Rebuild and deploy the patched kernel
Caveat Kernel upgrades may introduce compatibility changes with drivers or modules; ensure all kernel modules are compatible with the target version

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 $3,200. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-41091 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-41091 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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