# CVE-2024-42282: net: mediatek: Fix potential NULL pointer dereference in dummy net_device handling

> A NULL pointer dereference in the MediaTek network driver can cause a system crash during device removal or probe failure.

- **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:** 17 Aug 2024
- **Updated:** 3 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-42282, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-42282, GHSA-mhhw-j772-75h5, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-42282

## What is CVE-2024-42282?

CVE-2024-42282 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 17 Aug 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: mediatek: Fix potential NULL pointer dereference in dummy net_device handling

Move the freeing of the dummy net_device from mtk_free_dev() to
mtk_remove().

Previously, if alloc_netdev_dummy() failed in mtk_probe(),
eth->dummy_dev would be NULL. The error path would then call
mtk_free_dev(), which in turn called free_netdev() assuming dummy_dev
was allocated (but it was not), potentially causing a NULL pointer
dereference.

By moving free_netdev() to mtk_remove(), we ensure it's only called when
mtk_probe() has succeeded and dummy_dev is fully allocated. This
addresses a potential NULL pointer dereference detected by Smatch[1].

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-42282?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-42282?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-42282 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-42282 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-2024-42282 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-42282 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 17 Aug 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-2024-42282 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-2024-42282/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-42282/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-42282
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-42282
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-42282

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-42282/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.