# CVE-2024-38608: net/mlx5e: Fix netif state handling

> A null pointer dereference in the mlx5e network driver can cause a kernel crash and memory leak during device suspension.

- **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 Jun 2024
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-48210, AZL-48285, BELL-CVE-2024-38608, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-38608, GHSA-rh54-rh9r-p3ph, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2024-38608, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2024-38608, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2024-38608, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-38608

## What is CVE-2024-38608?

CVE-2024-38608 is a medium-severity 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:

net/mlx5e: Fix netif state handling

mlx5e_suspend cleans resources only if netif_device_present() returns
true. However, mlx5e_resume changes the state of netif, via
mlx5e_nic_enable, only if reg_state == NETREG_REGISTERED.
In the below case, the above leads to NULL-ptr Oops[1] and memory
leaks:

mlx5e_probe
 _mlx5e_resume
  mlx5e_attach_netdev
   mlx5e_nic_enable  <-- netdev not reg, not calling netif_device_attach()
  register_netdev <-- failed for some reason.
ERROR_FLOW:
 _mlx5e_suspend <-- netif_device_present return false, resources aren't freed :(

Hence, clean resources in this case as well.

[1]
BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000
PGD 0 P4D 0
Oops: 0010 [#1] SMP
CPU: 2 PID: 9345 Comm: test-ovs-ct-gen Not tainted 6.5.0_for_upstream_min_debug_2023_09_05_16_01 #1
Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS rel-1.13.0-0-gf21b5a4aeb02-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014
RIP: 0010:0x0
Code: Unable to access opcode bytes at0xffffffffffffffd6.
RSP: 0018:ffff888178aaf758 EFLAGS: 00010246
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 ? __die+0x20/0x60
 ? page_fault_oops+0x14c/0x3c0
 ? exc_page_fault+0x75/0x140
 ? asm_exc_page_fault+0x22/0x30
 notifier_call_chain+0x35/0xb0
 blocking_notifier_call_chain+0x3d/0x60
 mlx5_blocking_notifier_call_chain+0x22/0x30 [mlx5_core]
 mlx5_core_uplink_netdev_event_replay+0x3e/0x60 [mlx5_core]
 mlx5_mdev_netdev_track+0x53/0x60 [mlx5_ib]
 mlx5_ib_roce_init+0xc3/0x340 [mlx5_ib]
 __mlx5_ib_add+0x34/0xd0 [mlx5_ib]
 mlx5r_probe+0xe1/0x210 [mlx5_ib]
 ? auxiliary_match_id+0x6a/0x90
 auxiliary_bus_probe+0x38/0x80
 ? driver_sysfs_add+0x51/0x80
 really_probe+0xc9/0x3e0
 ? driver_probe_device+0x90/0x90
 __driver_probe_device+0x80/0x160
 driver_probe_device+0x1e/0x90
 __device_attach_driver+0x7d/0x100
 bus_for_each_drv+0x80/0xd0
 __device_attach+0xbc/0x1f0
 bus_probe_device+0x86/0xa0
 device_add+0x637/0x840
 __auxiliary_device_add+0x3b/0xa0
 add_adev+0xc9/0x140 [mlx5_core]
 mlx5_rescan_drivers_locked+0x22a/0x310 [mlx5_core]
 mlx5_register_device+0x53/0xa0 [mlx5_core]
 mlx5_init_one_devl_locked+0x5c4/0x9c0 [mlx5_core]
 mlx5_init_one+0x3b/0x60 [mlx5_core]
 probe_one+0x44c/0x730 [mlx5_core]
 local_pci_probe+0x3e/0x90
 pci_device_probe+0xbf/0x210
 ? kernfs_create_link+0x5d/0xa0
 ? sysfs_do_create_link_sd+0x60/0xc0
 really_probe+0xc9/0x3e0
 ? driver_probe_device+0x90/0x90
 __driver_probe_device+0x80/0x160
 driver_probe_device+0x1e/0x90
 __device_attach_driver+0x7d/0x100
 bus_for_each_drv+0x80/0xd0
 __device_attach+0xbc/0x1f0
 pci_bus_add_device+0x54/0x80
 pci_iov_add_virtfn+0x2e6/0x320
 sriov_enable+0x208/0x420
 mlx5_core_sriov_configure+0x9e/0x200 [mlx5_core]
 sriov_numvfs_store+0xae/0x1a0
 kernfs_fop_write_iter+0x10c/0x1a0
 vfs_write+0x291/0x3c0
 ksys_write+0x5f/0xe0
 do_syscall_64+0x3d/0x90
 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0
 CR2: 0000000000000000
 ---[ end trace 0000000000000000  ]---

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-38608?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-38608?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-38608 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-38608 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-2024-38608 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-38608 is a medium-severity 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-2024-38608 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-2024-38608/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-38608/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-38608
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-38608
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-38608

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-38608/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.