# CVE-2024-50038: netfilter: xtables: avoid NFPROTO_UNSPEC where needed

> A kernel bug allows local attackers to trigger a warning and potential denial of service by invoking netfilter modules via ebtables.

- **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:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-51423, AZL-51452, BELL-CVE-2024-50038, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-50038, GHSA-7428-67h9-qj3r, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2024-50038, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-50038

## What is CVE-2024-50038?

CVE-2024-50038 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:

netfilter: xtables: avoid NFPROTO_UNSPEC where needed

syzbot managed to call xt_cluster match via ebtables:

 WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 11 at net/netfilter/xt_cluster.c:72 xt_cluster_mt+0x196/0x780
 [..]
 ebt_do_table+0x174b/0x2a40

Module registers to NFPROTO_UNSPEC, but it assumes ipv4/ipv6 packet
processing.  As this is only useful to restrict locally terminating
TCP/UDP traffic, register this for ipv4 and ipv6 family only.

Pablo points out that this is a general issue, direct users of the
set/getsockopt interface can call into targets/matches that were only
intended for use with ip(6)tables.

Check all UNSPEC matches and targets for similar issues:

- matches and targets are fine except if they assume skb_network_header()
  is valid -- this is only true when called from inet layer: ip(6) stack
  pulls the ip/ipv6 header into linear data area.
- targets that return XT_CONTINUE or other xtables verdicts must be
  restricted too, they are incompatbile with the ebtables traverser, e.g.
  EBT_CONTINUE is a completely different value than XT_CONTINUE.

Most matches/targets are changed to register for NFPROTO_IPV4/IPV6, as
they are provided for use by ip(6)tables.

The MARK target is also used by arptables, so register for NFPROTO_ARP too.

While at it, bail out if connbytes fails to enable the corresponding
conntrack family.

This change passes the selftests in iptables.git.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-50038?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-50038?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-50038 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-50038 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-2024-50038 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-50038 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-2024-50038 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-2024-50038/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-50038/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-50038
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-50038
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-50038

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-50038/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.