# CVE-2024-50281: KEYS: trusted: dcp: fix NULL dereference in AEAD crypto operation

> A race condition in the Linux kernel DCP driver causes a NULL pointer dereference during key sealing, leading to system crashes.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 19 Nov 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-50281, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-50281, GHSA-p6w4-xmxx-7gmj, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-50281

## What is CVE-2024-50281?

CVE-2024-50281 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 Nov 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:

KEYS: trusted: dcp: fix NULL dereference in AEAD crypto operation

When sealing or unsealing a key blob we currently do not wait for
the AEAD cipher operation to finish and simply return after submitting
the request. If there is some load on the system we can exit before
the cipher operation is done and the buffer we read from/write to
is already removed from the stack. This will e.g. result in NULL
pointer dereference errors in the DCP driver during blob creation.

Fix this by waiting for the AEAD cipher operation to finish before
resuming the seal and unseal calls.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-50281?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-50281?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-50281 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-50281 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-2024-50281 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-50281 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 Nov 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-2024-50281 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-2024-50281/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-50281/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-50281
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-50281
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-50281

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-50281/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.