Classic Buffer OverflowWeakness · CWE-120

CVE-2024-46304

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-10-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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
A NULL pointer dereference in libcoap v4.3.5-rc2 and below allows a remote attacker to cause a denial of service via the coap_handle_request_put_block function in src/coap_block.c.

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

A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability in libcoap versions 4.3.5-rc2 and earlier in the coap_handle_request_put_block function in src/coap_block.c allows remote attackers to cause denial of service by sending specially crafted CoAP block transfer requests that trigger the NULL dereference.

MitigationUpdate libcoap to a version newer than 4.3.5-rc2 once available, or apply vendor-supplied patches. As a temporary workaround, consider network-level filtering or rate limiting of CoAP traffic to reduce exposure.

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

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. Identify installed libcoap version
    Run 'dpkg -l libcoap-*' or 'rpm -qa | grep libcoap' to list installed libcoap packages. Alternatively, check the library file: 'strings /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libcoap*.so | grep -i version' or check build info if linked statically.
    Affected if The version is 4.3.5-rc2 or earlier (any 4.x version up to and including 4.3.5-rc2).
  2. Locate CoAP services using libcoap
    Check for running CoAP daemons or services: 'ps aux | grep -i coap' and 'netstat -tulpn | grep -i coap' or 'ss -tulpn | grep -i coap' to identify processes listening on CoAP ports (typically 5683/udp).
    Affected if A CoAP server or client process is running that links against a vulnerable libcoap version.
  3. Verify block transfer handling is enabled
    Examine the CoAP service configuration for block transfer support. Check config files or command-line flags for options like '--block' or examine the service startup script for block-wise transfer parameters.
    Affected if The CoAP service has block transfer handling enabled (this is the code path containing the vulnerable function coap_handle_request_put_block).
  4. Confirm exposure to network
    Review firewall rules and network exposure: 'iptables -L -n' or check if the CoAP port (5683/udp by default) is bound to a public or accessible network interface rather than localhost only.
    Affected if The CoAP service is accessible over the network (not bound to 127.0.0.1 only) allowing remote attackers to send crafted block transfer requests.

You are affected if you run a CoAP server or service that uses libcoap version 4.3.5-rc2 or earlier, has block transfer handling enabled, and is network-accessible.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update libcoap to a version newer than 4.3.5-rc2 once available, or apply vendor-supplied patches. As a temporary workaround, consider network-level filtering or rate limiting of CoAP traffic to reduce exposure.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,770
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2024-46304 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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