# CVE-2024-38586: r8169: Fix possible ring buffer corruption on fragmented Tx packets.

> A memory corruption vulnerability in the r8169 network driver allows attackers to cause system crashes or potentially execute code via fragmented packets.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 Jun 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-38586, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-38586, GHSA-6f25-fxw5-f5mv, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-38586

## What is CVE-2024-38586?

CVE-2024-38586 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 Jun 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:

r8169: Fix possible ring buffer corruption on fragmented Tx packets.

An issue was found on the RTL8125b when transmitting small fragmented
packets, whereby invalid entries were inserted into the transmit ring
buffer, subsequently leading to calls to dma_unmap_single() with a null
address.

This was caused by rtl8169_start_xmit() not noticing changes to nr_frags
which may occur when small packets are padded (to work around hardware
quirks) in rtl8169_tso_csum_v2().

To fix this, postpone inspecting nr_frags until after any padding has been
applied.

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-38586?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-38586?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-38586 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-38586 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-2024-38586 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-38586 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 Jun 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-2024-38586 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-2024-38586/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-38586/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-38586
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-38586
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-38586

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-38586/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.