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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2024-53224

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-12-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.6.64 / 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: RDMA/mlx5: Move events notifier registration to be after device registration Move pkey change work initialization and cleanup from device resources stage to notifier stage, since this is the stage which handles this work events. Fix a race between the device deregistration and pkey change work by moving MLX5_IB_STAGE_DEVICE_NOTIFIER to be after MLX5_IB_STAGE_IB_REG in order to ensure that the notifier is deregistered before the device during cleanup. Which ensures there are no works that are being executed after the device has already unregistered which can cause the panic below. BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 PGD 0 P4D 0 Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP PTI CPU: 1 PID: 630071 Comm: kworker/1:2 Kdump: loaded Tainted: G W OE --------- --- 5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1.x86_64 #1 Hardware name: Microsoft Corporation Virtual Machine/Virtual Machine, BIOS 090008 02/27/2023 Workqueue: events pkey_change_handler [mlx5_ib] RIP: 0010:setup_qp+0x38/0x1f0 [mlx5_ib] Code: ee 41 54 45 31 e4 55 89 f5 53 48 89 fb 48 83 ec 20 8b 77 08 65 48 8b 04 25 28 00 00 00 48 89 44 24 18 48 8b 07 48 8d 4c 24 16 <4c> 8b 38 49 8b 87 80 0b 00 00 4c 89 ff 48 8b 80 08 05 00 00 8b 40 RSP: 0018:ffffbcc54068be20 EFLAGS: 00010282 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff954054494128 RCX: ffffbcc54068be36 RDX: ffff954004934000 RSI: 0000000000000001 RDI: ffff954054494128 RBP: 0000000000000023 R08: ffff954001be2c20 R09: 0000000000000001 R10: ffff954001be2c20 R11: ffff9540260133c0 R12: 0000000000000000 R13: 0000000000000023 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: ffff9540ffcb0905 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff9540ffc80000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000000000000000 CR3: 000000010625c001 CR4: 00000000003706e0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: mlx5_ib_gsi_pkey_change+0x20/0x40 [mlx5_ib] process_one_work+0x1e8/0x3c0 worker_thread+0x50/0x3b0 ? rescuer_thread+0x380/0x380 kthread+0x149/0x170 ? set_kthread_struct+0x50/0x50 ret_from_fork+0x22/0x30 Modules linked in: rdma_ucm(OE) rdma_cm(OE) iw_cm(OE) ib_ipoib(OE) ib_cm(OE) ib_umad(OE) mlx5_ib(OE) mlx5_fwctl(OE) fwctl(OE) ib_uverbs(OE) mlx5_core(OE) mlxdevm(OE) ib_core(OE) mlx_compat(OE) psample mlxfw(OE) tls knem(OE) netconsole nfsv3 nfs_acl nfs lockd grace fscache netfs qrtr rfkill sunrpc intel_rapl_msr intel_rapl_common rapl hv_balloon hv_utils i2c_piix4 pcspkr joydev fuse ext4 mbcache jbd2 sr_mod sd_mod cdrom t10_pi sg ata_generic pci_hyperv pci_hyperv_intf hyperv_drm drm_shmem_helper drm_kms_helper hv_storvsc syscopyarea hv_netvsc sysfillrect sysimgblt hid_hyperv fb_sys_fops scsi_transport_fc hyperv_keyboard drm ata_piix crct10dif_pclmul crc32_pclmul crc32c_intel libata ghash_clmulni_intel hv_vmbus serio_raw [last unloaded: ib_core] CR2: 0000000000000000 ---[ end trace f6f8be4eae12f7bc ]---

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:>= 4.6, < 6.6.64>= 6.7, < 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 6.6.64 / 6.11.11 / 6.12.2 or later
Fixed in 6.6.646.11.116.12.2
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 6.6.64, 6.11.11, or 6.12.2 (or any later stable release)

  1. Upgrade the Linux kernel to version 6.6.64 or later for the 6.6.x branch
  2. OR upgrade to version 6.11.11 or later for the 6.7.x-6.11.x branch
  3. OR upgrade to version 6.12.2 or later for the 6.12.x branch
  4. After upgrading, verify the mlx5_ib module loads correctly and RDMA operations function normally
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could affect other kernel modules; ensure compatibility with system hardware and other software dependencies

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-2024-53224 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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