# CVE-2024-35512: Null dereference in n/a

> A remote attacker can crash the hmq MQTT broker by sending a crafted UNSUBSCRIBE packet with an illegal topic, causing a null pointer dereference.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 29 May 2024
- **Updated:** 16 Apr 2026

## What is CVE-2024-35512?

CVE-2024-35512 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 29 May 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

hmq v1.5.5 is vulnerable to Denial of Service (DoS) due to a Null Pointer Exception. A remote attacker can trigger a broker crash by sending a specially crafted MQTT UNSUBSCRIBE packet with an illegal control character Topic. The failure to properly validate this field leads to a null pointer dereference, resulting in the immediate termination of the hmq process.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-35512?


## How do I fix CVE-2024-35512?

No fix has been published for CVE-2024-35512 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2024-35512 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2024-35512 exists.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-35512 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-35512 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 29 May 2024. 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-2024-35512 exists.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2024-35512/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-35512/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-35512
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-35512
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-35512

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-35512/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.