# CVE-2024-42134: virtio-pci: Check if is_avq is NULL

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel's virtio-pci driver allows local attackers to crash the system via specific device attachment operations.

- **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 Jul 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-54111, AZL-54122, BELL-CVE-2024-42134, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-42134, GHSA-jv48-qx8c-4x4f, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2024-42134, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-42134

## What is CVE-2024-42134?

CVE-2024-42134 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 30 Jul 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:

virtio-pci: Check if is_avq is NULL

[bug]
In the virtio_pci_common.c function vp_del_vqs, vp_dev->is_avq is involved
to determine whether it is admin virtqueue, but this function vp_dev->is_avq
 may be empty. For installations, virtio_pci_legacy does not assign a value
 to vp_dev->is_avq.

[fix]
Check whether it is vp_dev->is_avq before use.

[test]
Test with virsh Attach device
Before this patch, the following command would crash the guest system

After applying the patch, everything seems to be working fine.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-42134?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-42134?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-42134 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-42134 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-2024-42134 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-42134 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 30 Jul 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-2024-42134 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-2024-42134/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-42134/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-42134
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-42134
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-42134

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-42134/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.