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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2024-46721

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-09-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.19.322 / 5.4.284 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: apparmor: fix possible NULL pointer dereference profile->parent->dents[AAFS_PROF_DIR] could be NULL only if its parent is made from __create_missing_ancestors(..) and 'ent->old' is NULL in aa_replace_profiles(..). In that case, it must return an error code and the code, -ENOENT represents its state that the path of its parent is not existed yet. BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000030 PGD 0 P4D 0 PREEMPT SMP PTI CPU: 4 PID: 3362 Comm: apparmor_parser Not tainted 6.8.0-24-generic #24 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.15.0-1 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:aafs_create.constprop.0+0x7f/0x130 Code: 4c 63 e0 48 83 c4 18 4c 89 e0 5b 41 5c 41 5d 41 5e 41 5f 5d 31 d2 31 c9 31 f6 31 ff 45 31 c0 45 31 c9 45 31 d2 c3 cc cc cc cc <4d> 8b 55 30 4d 8d ba a0 00 00 00 4c 89 55 c0 4c 89 ff e8 7a 6a ae RSP: 0018:ffffc9000b2c7c98 EFLAGS: 00010246 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 00000000000041ed RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 0000000000000000 RBP: ffffc9000b2c7cd8 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffffffff82baac10 R13: 0000000000000000 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 0000000000000000 FS: 00007be9f22cf740(0000) GS:ffff88817bc00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000000000000030 CR3: 0000000134b08000 CR4: 00000000000006f0 Call Trace: <TASK> ? show_regs+0x6d/0x80 ? __die+0x24/0x80 ? page_fault_oops+0x99/0x1b0 ? kernelmode_fixup_or_oops+0xb2/0x140 ? __bad_area_nosemaphore+0x1a5/0x2c0 ? find_vma+0x34/0x60 ? bad_area_nosemaphore+0x16/0x30 ? do_user_addr_fault+0x2a2/0x6b0 ? exc_page_fault+0x83/0x1b0 ? asm_exc_page_fault+0x27/0x30 ? aafs_create.constprop.0+0x7f/0x130 ? aafs_create.constprop.0+0x51/0x130 __aafs_profile_mkdir+0x3d6/0x480 aa_replace_profiles+0x83f/0x1270 policy_update+0xe3/0x180 profile_load+0xbc/0x150 ? rw_verify_area+0x47/0x140 vfs_write+0x100/0x480 ? __x64_sys_openat+0x55/0xa0 ? syscall_exit_to_user_mode+0x86/0x260 ksys_write+0x73/0x100 __x64_sys_write+0x19/0x30 x64_sys_call+0x7e/0x25c0 do_syscall_64+0x7f/0x180 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x78/0x80 RIP: 0033:0x7be9f211c574 Code: c7 00 16 00 00 00 b8 ff ff ff ff c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 f3 0f 1e fa 80 3d d5 ea 0e 00 00 74 13 b8 01 00 00 00 0f 05 <48> 3d 00 f0 ff ff 77 54 c3 0f 1f 00 55 48 89 e5 48 83 ec 20 48 89 RSP: 002b:00007ffd26f2b8c8 EFLAGS: 00000202 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000001 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00005d504415e200 RCX: 00007be9f211c574 RDX: 0000000000001fc1 RSI: 00005d504418bc80 RDI: 0000000000000004 RBP: 0000000000001fc1 R08: 0000000000001fc1 R09: 0000000080000000 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000202 R12: 00005d504418bc80 R13: 0000000000000004 R14: 00007ffd26f2b9b0 R15: 00007ffd26f2ba30 </TASK> Modules linked in: snd_seq_dummy snd_hrtimer qrtr snd_hda_codec_generic snd_hda_intel snd_intel_dspcfg snd_intel_sdw_acpi snd_hda_codec snd_hda_core snd_hwdep snd_pcm snd_seq_midi snd_seq_midi_event snd_rawmidi snd_seq snd_seq_device i2c_i801 snd_timer i2c_smbus qxl snd soundcore drm_ttm_helper lpc_ich ttm joydev input_leds serio_raw mac_hid binfmt_misc msr parport_pc ppdev lp parport efi_pstore nfnetlink dmi_sysfs qemu_fw_cfg ip_tables x_tables autofs4 hid_generic usbhid hid ahci libahci psmouse virtio_rng xhci_pci xhci_pci_renesas CR2: 0000000000000030 ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- RIP: 0010:aafs_create.constprop.0+0x7f/0x130 Code: 4c 63 e0 48 83 c4 18 4c 89 e0 5b 41 5c 41 5d 41 5e 41 5f 5d 31 d2 31 c9 31 f6 31 ff 45 31 c0 45 31 c9 45 31 d2 c3 cc cc cc cc <4d> 8b 55 30 4d 8d ba a0 00 00 00 4c 89 55 c0 4c 89 ff e8 7a 6a ae RSP: 0018:ffffc9000b2c7c98 EFLAGS: 00010246 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 00000000000041ed RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 0000000000000000 RBP: ffffc9000b2c7cd8 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000 ---truncated---

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:< 4.19.322>= 4.20, < 5.4.284>= 5.5, < 5.10.226>= 5.11, < 5.15.167>= 5.16, < 6.1.109>= 6.2, < 6.6.50>= 6.7, < 6.10.9

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 4.19.322 / 5.4.284 / 5.10.226 or later
Fixed in 4.19.3225.4.2845.10.226
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel >= 4.19.322, 5.4.284, 5.10.226, or 5.15.167 depending on your current branch

  1. 1. Identify the current kernel version: run `uname -r` or `hostnamectl`
  2. 2. Determine which branch (4.19.x, 5.4.x, 5.10.x, or 5.15.x) your current kernel belongs to
  3. 3. Upgrade to a fixed kernel version within your branch: for 4.19.x upgrade to >= 4.19.322; for 5.4.x upgrade to >= 5.4.284; for 5.10.x upgrade to >= 5.10.226; for 5.15.x upgrade to >= 5.15.167
  4. 4. On Debian/Ubuntu: run `sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade linux-image-generic` and reboot
  5. 5. On RHEL/CentOS: run `sudo yum update kernel` and reboot
  6. 6. Verify the fix by running `uname -r` to confirm the new version is running and `dmesg | grep -i apparmor` to check for related messages
Caveat Kernel upgrades generally require a system reboot and should be tested in non-production environments first; AppArmor policy files may need reloading after upgrade

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-2024-46721 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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