# CVE-2024-36962: net: ks8851: Queue RX packets in IRQ handler instead of disabling BHs

> A race condition in the ks8851 network driver can cause a system hang when receiving packets, leading to denial of service.

- **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:** Yes
- **Published:** 3 Jun 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-36962, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-36962, GHSA-j27x-m3vr-xwcf, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-36962

## What is CVE-2024-36962?

CVE-2024-36962 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 3 Jun 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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

net: ks8851: Queue RX packets in IRQ handler instead of disabling BHs

Currently the driver uses local_bh_disable()/local_bh_enable() in its
IRQ handler to avoid triggering net_rx_action() softirq on exit from
netif_rx(). The net_rx_action() could trigger this driver .start_xmit
callback, which is protected by the same lock as the IRQ handler, so
calling the .start_xmit from netif_rx() from the IRQ handler critical
section protected by the lock could lead to an attempt to claim the
already claimed lock, and a hang.

The local_bh_disable()/local_bh_enable() approach works only in case
the IRQ handler is protected by a spinlock, but does not work if the
IRQ handler is protected by mutex, i.e. this works for KS8851 with
Parallel bus interface, but not for KS8851 with SPI bus interface.

Remove the BH manipulation and instead of calling netif_rx() inside
the IRQ handler code protected by the lock, queue all the received
SKBs in the IRQ handler into a queue first, and once the IRQ handler
exits the critical section protected by the lock, dequeue all the
queued SKBs and push them all into netif_rx(). At this point, it is
safe to trigger the net_rx_action() softirq, since the netif_rx()
call is outside of the lock that protects the IRQ handler.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-36962?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-36962?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-36962 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-36962 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-36962 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-36962 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 3 Jun 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-36962 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. 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-2024-36962/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-36962/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-36962
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-36962
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-36962

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-36962/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.