# CVE-2024-35902: net/rds: fix possible cp null dereference

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel's RDS module can cause a system crash, requiring a kernel patch to prevent denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 19 May 2024
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-35902, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-35902, GHSA-hpp4-8vc7-9fh4, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-35902

## What is CVE-2024-35902?

CVE-2024-35902 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 19 May 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net/rds: fix possible cp null dereference

cp might be null, calling cp->cp_conn would produce null dereference

[Simon Horman adds:]

Analysis:

* cp is a parameter of __rds_rdma_map and is not reassigned.

* The following call-sites pass a NULL cp argument to __rds_rdma_map()

  - rds_get_mr()
  - rds_get_mr_for_dest

* Prior to the code above, the following assumes that cp may be NULL
  (which is indicative, but could itself be unnecessary)

	trans_private = rs->rs_transport->get_mr(
		sg, nents, rs, &mr->r_key, cp ? cp->cp_conn : NULL,
		args->vec.addr, args->vec.bytes,
		need_odp ? ODP_ZEROBASED : ODP_NOT_NEEDED);

* The code modified by this patch is guarded by IS_ERR(trans_private),
  where trans_private is assigned as per the previous point in this analysis.

  The only implementation of get_mr that I could locate is rds_ib_get_mr()
  which can return an ERR_PTR if the conn (4th) argument is NULL.

* ret is set to PTR_ERR(trans_private).
  rds_ib_get_mr can return ERR_PTR(-ENODEV) if the conn (4th) argument is NULL.
  Thus ret may be -ENODEV in which case the code in question will execute.

Conclusion:
* cp may be NULL at the point where this patch adds a check;
  this patch does seem to address a possible bug

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-35902?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Debian Debian Linux, Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-35902?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-35902 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-35902 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux

- [CVE-2015-3306](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3306/): ProFTPD Improper Access Control (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-49113](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-49113/): RoundCube Webmail Deserialization of Untrusted Data (critical 9.9, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-24061](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24061/): GNU InetUtils Argument Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-39682](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39682/): Linux Kernel Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-9680](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-9680/): Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-35902 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-35902 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 19 May 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-35902 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Debian Debian Linux. 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-2024-35902/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-35902/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-35902
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-35902
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-35902

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-35902/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.