Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2024-53209

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-12-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.2 / 6.11.11 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: bnxt_en: Fix receive ring space parameters when XDP is active The MTU setting at the time an XDP multi-buffer is attached determines whether the aggregation ring will be used and the rx_skb_func handler. This is done in bnxt_set_rx_skb_mode(). If the MTU is later changed, the aggregation ring setting may need to be changed and it may become out-of-sync with the settings initially done in bnxt_set_rx_skb_mode(). This may result in random memory corruption and crashes as the HW may DMA data larger than the allocated buffer size, such as: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 00000000000003c0 PGD 0 P4D 0 Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI CPU: 17 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/17 Kdump: loaded Tainted: G S OE 6.1.0-226bf9805506 #1 Hardware name: Wiwynn Delta Lake PVT BZA.02601.0150/Delta Lake-Class1, BIOS F0E_3A12 08/26/2021 RIP: 0010:bnxt_rx_pkt+0xe97/0x1ae0 [bnxt_en] Code: 8b 95 70 ff ff ff 4c 8b 9d 48 ff ff ff 66 41 89 87 b4 00 00 00 e9 0b f7 ff ff 0f b7 43 0a 49 8b 95 a8 04 00 00 25 ff 0f 00 00 <0f> b7 14 42 48 c1 e2 06 49 03 95 a0 04 00 00 0f b6 42 33f RSP: 0018:ffffa19f40cc0d18 EFLAGS: 00010202 RAX: 00000000000001e0 RBX: ffff8e2c805c6100 RCX: 00000000000007ff RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: ffff8e2c271ab990 RDI: ffff8e2c84f12380 RBP: ffffa19f40cc0e48 R08: 000000000001000d R09: 974ea2fcddfa4cbf R10: 0000000000000000 R11: ffffa19f40cc0ff8 R12: ffff8e2c94b58980 R13: ffff8e2c952d6600 R14: 0000000000000016 R15: ffff8e2c271ab990 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8e3b3f840000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00000000000003c0 CR3: 0000000e8580a004 CR4: 00000000007706e0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 PKRU: 55555554 Call Trace: <IRQ> __bnxt_poll_work+0x1c2/0x3e0 [bnxt_en] To address the issue, we now call bnxt_set_rx_skb_mode() within bnxt_change_mtu() to properly set the AGG rings configuration and update rx_skb_func based on the new MTU value. Additionally, BNXT_FLAG_NO_AGG_RINGS is cleared at the beginning of bnxt_set_rx_skb_mode() to make sure it gets set or cleared based on the current MTU.

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:>= 6.1.45, < 6.2>= 6.4.10, < 6.11.11>= 6.12, < 6.12.2

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 6.2 / 6.11.11 / 6.12.2 or later
Fixed in 6.26.11.116.12.2
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Linux kernel 6.2 or later, 6.11.11 or later, or 6.12.2 or later (depending on which stable branch is used)

  1. Identify the current running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Determine if the system is using a vulnerable kernel version: < 6.2, 6.2-6.11.11, or 6.12-6.12.1
  3. For distribution kernels (Debian, Ubuntu, RHEL, etc.), check for and apply the latest kernel security updates that address this CVE
  4. For custom or upstream kernels, upgrade to kernel version 6.2 or later, or 6.11.11 or later, or 6.12.2 or later
  5. Reboot the system to apply the new kernel
  6. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and confirming bnxt_set_rx_skb_mode() is called in bnxt_change_mtu()
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could have compatibility implications with third-party modules or specific hardware configurations

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

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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-2024-53209 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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