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Meshtastic FirmwareOperating system · Meshtastic

CVE-2024-45038

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-08-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.4.1 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
Meshtastic device firmware is a firmware for meshtastic devices to run an open source, off-grid, decentralized, mesh network built to run on affordable, low-power devices. Meshtastic device firmware is subject to a denial of serivce vulnerability in MQTT handling, fixed in version 2.4.1 of the Meshtastic firmware and on the Meshtastic public MQTT Broker. It's strongly suggested that all users of Meshtastic, particularly those that connect to a privately hosted MQTT server, update to this or a more recent stable version right away. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

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 · high confidence

Meshtastic device firmware contains a denial of service vulnerability in its MQTT message handling logic. Attackers can exploit this to cause devices to become unresponsive or crash by sending specially crafted MQTT messages. The vulnerability affects both the client firmware and the Meshtastic public MQTT broker infrastructure.

MitigationUpdate all Meshtastic devices to firmware version 2.4.1 or later, as no workarounds exist. Organizations using private MQTT brokers must ensure both the broker and all client devices are updated to prevent exploitation.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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
Meshtastic FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 2.4.1

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

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

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 the Meshtastic device firmware version
    Connect to the Meshtastic device via the Meshtastic mobile app, CLI tool (meshtastic --get firmware_version), or access the device's web interface. Compare the installed firmware version to the affected range of versions prior to 2.4.1.
    Affected if The installed firmware version is less than 2.4.1 (e.g., 2.4.0, 2.3.x, or earlier).
  2. Verify if MQTT functionality is enabled
    Access the device settings through the Meshtastic app or CLI (meshtastic --get mqtt) and check whether the MQTT module is turned on. The vulnerability only affects devices that have MQTT enabled.
    Affected if MQTT is enabled on the device, allowing it to connect to an MQTT broker and receive messages.
  3. Identify the configured MQTT broker
    Check the MQTT broker configuration in the device settings (meshtastic --get mqtt_server). Determine if the device is configured to use the default Meshtastic public MQTT broker (mqtt.meshtastic.org) or a private broker.
    Affected if The device connects to the Meshtastic public MQTT broker or any broker that has not been updated to a patched version.

A device is affected if it runs Meshtastic firmware prior to version 2.4.1 and has MQTT functionality enabled, regardless of which broker it connects to.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2.4.1 or later
Fixed in 2.4.1
Interim mitigation

Update all Meshtastic devices to firmware version 2.4.1 or later, as no workarounds exist. Organizations using private MQTT brokers must ensure both the broker and all client devices are updated to prevent exploitation.

Recommended fix High confidence

Meshtastic Firmware 2.4.1 or later

  1. Download Meshtastic Firmware version 2.4.1 or later from the official Meshtastic GitHub releases or flashing tool
  2. Flash the updated firmware to your Meshtastic device following the standard firmware update procedure
  3. If using a private MQTT server, ensure the server is also updated to the fixed version
  4. Verify the device successfully connects to MQTT after the update

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Meshtastic Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,800
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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-2024-45038 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data