# CVE-2024-45238: Null dereference in n/a

> A malicious RPKI repository can cause a null pointer dereference in Fort, leading to a crash and denial of service for Route Origin Validation.

- **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:** 24 Aug 2024
- **Updated:** 3 Nov 2025
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2024-45238, GHSA-5mgq-44p6-x2pr, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-45238

## What is CVE-2024-45238?

CVE-2024-45238 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 24 Aug 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An issue was discovered in Fort before 1.6.3. A malicious RPKI repository that descends from a (trusted) Trust Anchor can serve (via rsync or RRDP) a resource certificate containing a bit string that doesn't properly decode into a Subject Public Key. OpenSSL does not report this problem during parsing, and when compiled with OpenSSL libcrypto versions below 3, Fort recklessly dereferences the pointer. Because Fort is an RPKI Relying Party, a crash can lead to Route Origin Validation unavailability, which can lead to compromised routing.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-45238?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Nicmx Fort Validator.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-45238?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2024-45238 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-45238 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2024-56375](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-56375/): Integer overflow in fort-validator (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2024-45235](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-45235/): Null dereference in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2024-56169](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-56169/): Other in n/a (medium 5.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-45238 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-45238 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 24 Aug 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-2024-45238 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2024-45238/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-45238/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-45238
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-45238
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-45238

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-45238/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.