# CVE-2023-24818: RIOT-OS vulnerable to null pointer dereference during fragment forwarding

> An attacker can cause a denial of service in RIOT-OS by sending crafted 6LoWPAN frames that trigger a null pointer dereference during fragment forwarding.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 24 Apr 2023
- **Updated:** 4 Feb 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-69h9-vj5r-xcg6

## What is CVE-2023-24818?

CVE-2023-24818 is a high-severity vulnerability in RIOT-OS RIOT, published on 24 Apr 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

RIOT-OS, an operating system that supports Internet of Things devices, contains a network stack with the ability to process 6LoWPAN frames. Prior to version 2022.10, an attacker can send a crafted frame to the device resulting in a NULL pointer dereference. During forwarding of a fragment an uninitialized entry in the reassembly buffer is used. The NULL pointer dereference triggers a hard fault exception resulting in denial of service. Version 2022.10 fixes this issue. As a workaround, disable support for fragmented IP datagrams or apply the patches manually.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-24818?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Riot-Os Riot.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-24818?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-24818 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-24818 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2023-24818 exists.

## Other vulnerabilities in RIOT-OS RIOT

- [CVE-2024-32017](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-32017/): Buffer overflows in RIOT (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2023-33975](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-33975/): RIOT-OS vulnerable to Out of Bounds Write in _rbuf_add (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2023-24819](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-24819/): RIOT-OS vulnerable to Buffer Overflow during IPHC receive (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2023-24823](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-24823/): RIOT-OS vulnerable to Packet Type Confusion during IPHC send (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-27357](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-27357/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-24818 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-24818 is a high-severity vulnerability in RIOT-OS RIOT, published on 24 Apr 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2023-24818 exists.

Affected product: RIOT-OS RIOT. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-24818/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-24818/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-24818
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-24818
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-24818

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-24818/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.