# CVE-2024-53238: Bluetooth: btmtk: adjust the position to init iso data anchor > A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel Bluetooth driver causes a crash during unexpected USB disconnection, leading to denial of service. - **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:** 27 Dec 2024 - **Updated:** 11 May 2026 - **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-53238, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-53238, GHSA-89vj-8q5m-mj67, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-53238 ## What is CVE-2024-53238? CVE-2024-53238 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 Dec 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: Bluetooth: btmtk: adjust the position to init iso data anchor MediaTek iso data anchor init should be moved to where MediaTek claims iso data interface. If there is an unexpected BT usb disconnect during setup flow, it will cause a NULL pointer crash issue when releasing iso anchor since the anchor wasn't been init yet. Adjust the position to do iso data anchor init. [ 17.137991] pc : usb_kill_anchored_urbs+0x60/0x168 [ 17.137998] lr : usb_kill_anchored_urbs+0x44/0x168 [ 17.137999] sp : ffffffc0890cb5f0 [ 17.138000] x29: ffffffc0890cb5f0 x28: ffffff80bb6c2e80 [ 17.144081] gpio gpiochip0: registered chardev handle for 1 lines [ 17.148421] x27: 0000000000000000 [ 17.148422] x26: ffffffd301ff4298 x25: 0000000000000003 x24: 00000000000000f0 [ 17.148424] x23: 0000000000000000 x22: 00000000ffffffff x21: 0000000000000001 [ 17.148425] x20: ffffffffffffffd8 x19: ffffff80c0f25560 x18: 0000000000000000 [ 17.148427] x17: ffffffd33864e408 x16: ffffffd33808f7c8 x15: 0000000000200000 [ 17.232789] x14: e0cd73cf80ffffff x13: 50f2137c0a0338c9 x12: 0000000000000001 [ 17.239912] x11: 0000000080150011 x10: 0000000000000002 x9 : 0000000000000001 [ 17.247035] x8 : 0000000000000000 x7 : 0000000000008080 x6 : 8080000000000000 [ 17.254158] x5 : ffffffd33808ebc0 x4 : fffffffe033dcf20 x3 : 0000000080150011 [ 17.261281] x2 : ffffff8087a91400 x1 : 0000000000000000 x0 : ffffff80c0f25588 [ 17.268404] Call trace: [ 17.270841] usb_kill_anchored_urbs+0x60/0x168 [ 17.275274] btusb_mtk_release_iso_intf+0x2c/0xd8 [btusb (HASH:5afe 6)] [ 17.284226] btusb_mtk_disconnect+0x14/0x28 [btusb (HASH:5afe 6)] [ 17.292652] btusb_disconnect+0x70/0x140 [btusb (HASH:5afe 6)] [ 17.300818] usb_unbind_interface+0xc4/0x240 [ 17.305079] device_release_driver_internal+0x18c/0x258 [ 17.310296] device_release_driver+0x1c/0x30 [ 17.314557] bus_remove_device+0x140/0x160 [ 17.318643] device_del+0x1c0/0x330 [ 17.322121] usb_disable_device+0x80/0x180 [ 17.326207] usb_disconnect+0xec/0x300 [ 17.329948] hub_quiesce+0x80/0xd0 [ 17.333339] hub_disconnect+0x44/0x190 [ 17.337078] usb_unbind_interface+0xc4/0x240 [ 17.341337] device_release_driver_internal+0x18c/0x258 [ 17.346551] device_release_driver+0x1c/0x30 [ 17.350810] usb_driver_release_interface+0x70/0x88 [ 17.355677] proc_ioctl+0x13c/0x228 [ 17.359157] proc_ioctl_default+0x50/0x80 [ 17.363155] usbdev_ioctl+0x830/0xd08 [ 17.366808] __arm64_sys_ioctl+0x94/0xd0 [ 17.370723] invoke_syscall+0x6c/0xf8 [ 17.374377] el0_svc_common+0x84/0xe0 [ 17.378030] do_el0_svc+0x20/0x30 [ 17.381334] el0_svc+0x34/0x60 [ 17.384382] el0t_64_sync_handler+0x88/0xf0 [ 17.388554] el0t_64_sync+0x180/0x188 [ 17.392208] Code: f9400677 f100a2f4 54fffea0 d503201f (b8350288) [ 17.398289] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-53238? It affects 1 product. Products: Linux kernel. ## How do I fix CVE-2024-53238? Apply the vendor's patch. ## Is CVE-2024-53238 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-53238 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-2024-53238 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2024-53238 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 Dec 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-2024-53238 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-2024-53238/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-53238/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-53238 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-53238 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-53238 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-53238/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.