CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2024-42282 — Linux Linux Kernel security vulnerability

Medium CVSS 5.5

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: mediatek: Fix potential NULL pointer dereference in dummy net_device handling Move the freeing of the dummy net_device from mtk_free_dev() to mtk_remove(). Previously, if alloc_netdev_dummy() failed in mtk_probe(), eth->dummy_dev would be NULL. The error path would then call mtk_free_dev(), which in turn called free_netdev() assuming dummy_dev was allocated (but it was not), potentially causing a NULL pointer dereference. By moving free_netdev() to mtk_remove(), we ensure it's only called when mtk_probe() has succeeded and dummy_dev is fully allocated. This addresses a potential NULL pointer dereference detected by Smatch[1].

Severity
Medium
CVSS
5.5 (3.1)
Published
2024-08-17
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
linux/kernel
Weaknesses
CWE-476

Affected products

  • linux / linux_kernel

Matched remediation archetype

Buffer bounds, memory safety, and memory corruption

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Check exposure

  • Identify affected native-code versions, build flags, architectures, parsers, codecs, drivers, and input paths in all shipped artifacts.
  • Determine whether untrusted data reaches the affected routine and the process privilege, sandbox, and network exposure.
  • Confirm statically linked, vendored, firmware, and platform-provided copies, not only package-manager records.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the maintained upstream correction or replace the affected component, then rebuild every dependent artifact from clean inputs.
  • Adopt bounds-checked interfaces, validated sizes and integer conversions, clear ownership, and memory-safe components where practical.
  • Enable supported compiler and runtime hardening and add sanitized tests and fuzz regression seeds derived from non-weaponized fixtures.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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