# CVE-2024-47688: driver core: Fix a potential null-ptr-deref in module_add_driver()

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel driver core can cause a system crash when memory allocation fails during module probing.

- **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:** 21 Oct 2024
- **Updated:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-50895, BELL-CVE-2024-47688, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-47688, GHSA-8478-wgh8-m8mf, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-47688

## What is CVE-2024-47688?

CVE-2024-47688 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 Oct 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:

driver core: Fix a potential null-ptr-deref in module_add_driver()

Inject fault while probing of-fpga-region, if kasprintf() fails in
module_add_driver(), the second sysfs_remove_link() in exit path will cause
null-ptr-deref as below because kernfs_name_hash() will call strlen() with
NULL driver_name.

Fix it by releasing resources based on the exit path sequence.

	 KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000000-0x0000000000000007]
	 Mem abort info:
	   ESR = 0x0000000096000005
	   EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits
	   SET = 0, FnV = 0
	   EA = 0, S1PTW = 0
	   FSC = 0x05: level 1 translation fault
	 Data abort info:
	   ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000005, ISS2 = 0x00000000
	   CM = 0, WnR = 0, TnD = 0, TagAccess = 0
	   GCS = 0, Overlay = 0, DirtyBit = 0, Xs = 0
	 [dfffffc000000000] address between user and kernel address ranges
	 Internal error: Oops: 0000000096000005 [#1] PREEMPT SMP
	 Dumping ftrace buffer:
	    (ftrace buffer empty)
	 Modules linked in: of_fpga_region(+) fpga_region fpga_bridge cfg80211 rfkill 8021q garp mrp stp llc ipv6 [last unloaded: of_fpga_region]
	 CPU: 2 UID: 0 PID: 2036 Comm: modprobe Not tainted 6.11.0-rc2-g6a0e38264012 #295
	 Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT)
	 pstate: 60000005 (nZCv daif -PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--)
	 pc : strlen+0x24/0xb0
	 lr : kernfs_name_hash+0x1c/0xc4
	 sp : ffffffc081f97380
	 x29: ffffffc081f97380 x28: ffffffc081f97b90 x27: ffffff80c821c2a0
	 x26: ffffffedac0be418 x25: 0000000000000000 x24: ffffff80c09d2000
	 x23: 0000000000000000 x22: 0000000000000000 x21: 0000000000000000
	 x20: 0000000000000000 x19: 0000000000000000 x18: 0000000000001840
	 x17: 0000000000000000 x16: 0000000000000000 x15: 1ffffff8103f2e42
	 x14: 00000000f1f1f1f1 x13: 0000000000000004 x12: ffffffb01812d61d
	 x11: 1ffffff01812d61c x10: ffffffb01812d61c x9 : dfffffc000000000
	 x8 : 0000004fe7ed29e4 x7 : ffffff80c096b0e7 x6 : 0000000000000001
	 x5 : ffffff80c096b0e0 x4 : 1ffffffdb990efa2 x3 : 0000000000000000
	 x2 : 0000000000000000 x1 : dfffffc000000000 x0 : 0000000000000000
	 Call trace:
	  strlen+0x24/0xb0
	  kernfs_name_hash+0x1c/0xc4
	  kernfs_find_ns+0x118/0x2e8
	  kernfs_remove_by_name_ns+0x80/0x100
	  sysfs_remove_link+0x74/0xa8
	  module_add_driver+0x278/0x394
	  bus_add_driver+0x1f0/0x43c
	  driver_register+0xf4/0x3c0
	  __platform_driver_register+0x60/0x88
	  of_fpga_region_init+0x20/0x1000 [of_fpga_region]
	  do_one_initcall+0x110/0x788
	  do_init_module+0x1dc/0x5c8
	  load_module+0x3c38/0x4cac
	  init_module_from_file+0xd4/0x128
	  idempotent_init_module+0x2cc/0x528
	  __arm64_sys_finit_module+0xac/0x100
	  invoke_syscall+0x6c/0x258
	  el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0x160/0x22c
	  do_el0_svc+0x44/0x5c
	  el0_svc+0x48/0xb8
	  el0t_64_sync_handler+0x13c/0x158
	  el0t_64_sync+0x190/0x194
	 Code: f2fbffe1 a90157f4 12000802 aa0003f5 (38e16861)
	 ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---
	 Kernel panic - not syncing: Oops: Fatal exception

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-47688?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-47688?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-47688 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-47688 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-2024-47688 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-47688 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 Oct 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-2024-47688 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-2024-47688/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-47688/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-47688
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-47688
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-47688

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-47688/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
