Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2024-46760

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-09-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.6.51 / 6.10.10 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: wifi: rtw88: usb: schedule rx work after everything is set up Right now it's possible to hit NULL pointer dereference in rtw_rx_fill_rx_status on hw object and/or its fields because initialization routine can start getting USB replies before rtw_dev is fully setup. The stack trace looks like this: rtw_rx_fill_rx_status rtw8821c_query_rx_desc rtw_usb_rx_handler ... queue_work rtw_usb_read_port_complete ... usb_submit_urb rtw_usb_rx_resubmit rtw_usb_init_rx rtw_usb_probe So while we do the async stuff rtw_usb_probe continues and calls rtw_register_hw, which does all kinds of initialization (e.g. via ieee80211_register_hw) that rtw_rx_fill_rx_status relies on. Fix this by moving the first usb_submit_urb after everything is set up. For me, this bug manifested as: [ 8.893177] rtw_8821cu 1-1:1.2: band wrong, packet dropped [ 8.910904] rtw_8821cu 1-1:1.2: hw->conf.chandef.chan NULL in rtw_rx_fill_rx_status because I'm using Larry's backport of rtw88 driver with the NULL checks in rtw_rx_fill_rx_status.

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:< 6.6.51>= 6.7, < 6.10.10

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 6.6.51 / 6.10.10 or later
Fixed in 6.6.516.10.10
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 6.6.51+ (for 6.6.y) or 6.10.10+ (for 6.7.y-6.10.y)

  1. Identify the current running Linux kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Determine which kernel branch is in use (e.g., 6.6.y, 6.7.y, 6.8.y, 6.9.y, or 6.10.y)
  3. For 6.6.y branch: upgrade to kernel version 6.6.51 or later
  4. For 6.7.y - 6.9.y branches: upgrade to kernel version 6.10.10 or later, or migrate to a newer stable branch
  5. For 6.10.y branch: upgrade to kernel version 6.10.10 or later
  6. After kernel upgrade, reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  7. Verify the rtw88 USB WiFi driver loads correctly and the device functions without NULL pointer dereference errors in dmesg
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebuilding out-of-tree modules; ensure all firmware is available; some configuration changes may be needed if moving across major.minor versions

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

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
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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-2024-46760 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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