Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2024-41098
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: ata: libata-core: Fix null pointer dereference on error If the ata_port_alloc() call in ata_host_alloc() fails, ata_host_release() will get called. However, the code in ata_host_release() tries to free ata_port struct members unconditionally, which can lead to the following: BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: 0000000000003990 PGD 0 P4D 0 Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI CPU: 10 PID: 594 Comm: (udev-worker) Not tainted 6.10.0-rc5 #44 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-2.fc40 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:ata_host_release.cold+0x2f/0x6e [libata] Code: e4 4d 63 f4 44 89 e2 48 c7 c6 90 ad 32 c0 48 c7 c7 d0 70 33 c0 49 83 c6 0e 41 RSP: 0018:ffffc90000ebb968 EFLAGS: 00010246 RAX: 0000000000000041 RBX: ffff88810fb52e78 RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: ffff88813b3218c0 RDI: ffff88813b3218c0 RBP: ffff88810fb52e40 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 6c65725f74736f68 R10: ffffc90000ebb738 R11: 73692033203a746e R12: 0000000000000004 R13: 0000000000000000 R14: 0000000000000011 R15: 0000000000000006 FS: 00007f6cc55b9980(0000) GS:ffff88813b300000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000000000003990 CR3: 00000001122a2000 CR4: 0000000000750ef0 PKRU: 55555554 Call Trace: <TASK> ? __die_body.cold+0x19/0x27 ? page_fault_oops+0x15a/0x2f0 ? exc_page_fault+0x7e/0x180 ? asm_exc_page_fault+0x26/0x30 ? ata_host_release.cold+0x2f/0x6e [libata] ? ata_host_release.cold+0x2f/0x6e [libata] release_nodes+0x35/0xb0 devres_release_group+0x113/0x140 ata_host_alloc+0xed/0x120 [libata] ata_host_alloc_pinfo+0x14/0xa0 [libata] ahci_init_one+0x6c9/0xd20 [ahci] Do not access ata_port struct members unconditionally.
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 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
>= 2.6.24, < 6.6.37>= 6.7, < 6.9.8CVSS 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 · scoped6.6.376.9.8
Linux kernel 6.6.37 or later (6.6.x branch) OR Linux kernel 6.9.8 or later (6.7.x-6.9.x branch)
- 1. Identify current kernel version with 'uname -r' or 'cat /proc/version'
- 2. Upgrade Linux kernel to version 6.6.37 or higher (if using 6.6.x branch) OR version 6.9.8 or higher (if using 6.7.x-6.9.x branch)
- 3. For distribution-specific systems, use the appropriate package manager (e.g., 'apt-get update && apt-get upgrade' for Debian/Ubuntu, 'yum update' for RHEL/CentOS, or 'dnf update' for Fedora)
- 4. Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
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-2024-41098 — 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-2024-41098 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
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