# CVE-2024-36889: mptcp: ensure snd_nxt is properly initialized on connect

> A kernel bug in MPTCP initialization can cause a null pointer dereference, leading to a system crash or 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:** 30 May 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-36889, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-36889, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-36889

## What is CVE-2024-36889?

CVE-2024-36889 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 30 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:

mptcp: ensure snd_nxt is properly initialized on connect

Christoph reported a splat hinting at a corrupted snd_una:

  WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 38 at net/mptcp/protocol.c:1005 __mptcp_clean_una+0x4b3/0x620 net/mptcp/protocol.c:1005
  Modules linked in:
  CPU: 1 PID: 38 Comm: kworker/1:1 Not tainted 6.9.0-rc1-gbbeac67456c9 #59
  Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.11.0-2.el7 04/01/2014
  Workqueue: events mptcp_worker
  RIP: 0010:__mptcp_clean_una+0x4b3/0x620 net/mptcp/protocol.c:1005
  Code: be 06 01 00 00 bf 06 01 00 00 e8 a8 12 e7 fe e9 00 fe ff ff e8
  	8e 1a e7 fe 0f b7 ab 3e 02 00 00 e9 d3 fd ff ff e8 7d 1a e7 fe
  	<0f> 0b 4c 8b bb e0 05 00 00 e9 74 fc ff ff e8 6a 1a e7 fe 0f 0b e9
  RSP: 0018:ffffc9000013fd48 EFLAGS: 00010293
  RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff8881029bd280 RCX: ffffffff82382fe4
  RDX: ffff8881003cbd00 RSI: ffffffff823833c3 RDI: 0000000000000001
  RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: 0000000000000000
  R10: 0000000000000000 R11: fefefefefefefeff R12: ffff888138ba8000
  R13: 0000000000000106 R14: ffff8881029bd908 R15: ffff888126560000
  FS:  0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff88813bd00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
  CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
  CR2: 00007f604a5dae38 CR3: 0000000101dac002 CR4: 0000000000170ef0
  Call Trace:
   <TASK>
   __mptcp_clean_una_wakeup net/mptcp/protocol.c:1055 [inline]
   mptcp_clean_una_wakeup net/mptcp/protocol.c:1062 [inline]
   __mptcp_retrans+0x7f/0x7e0 net/mptcp/protocol.c:2615
   mptcp_worker+0x434/0x740 net/mptcp/protocol.c:2767
   process_one_work+0x1e0/0x560 kernel/workqueue.c:3254
   process_scheduled_works kernel/workqueue.c:3335 [inline]
   worker_thread+0x3c7/0x640 kernel/workqueue.c:3416
   kthread+0x121/0x170 kernel/kthread.c:388
   ret_from_fork+0x44/0x50 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:147
   ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:243
   </TASK>

When fallback to TCP happens early on a client socket, snd_nxt
is not yet initialized and any incoming ack will copy such value
into snd_una. If the mptcp worker (dumbly) tries mptcp-level
re-injection after such ack, that would unconditionally trigger a send
buffer cleanup using 'bad' snd_una values.

We could easily disable re-injection for fallback sockets, but such
dumb behavior already helped catching a few subtle issues and a very
low to zero impact in practice.

Instead address the issue always initializing snd_nxt (and write_seq,
for consistency) at connect time.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-36889?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Debian Debian Linux, Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-36889?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-36889 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-36889 in the wild and no public exploit code.

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- [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-2024-36889 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-36889 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 30 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-2024-36889 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-2024-36889/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-36889/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-36889
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-36889
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-36889

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-36889/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.