VulnerabilityPublished 18 Jan 2024Updated 20 Nov 2025

CVE-2024-0408: Improper Neutralization of Null Byte or NUL Character

Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 09:08 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.5Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 24% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 18 Jan 2024
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2024-0408, organizations should apply patches or updates from their Linux distribution vendors as soon as they become available, ensuring the X.Org server version is upgraded beyond 21.1.0 or the specific fix is applied. In the absence of patches, administrators can consider temporarily disabling SELinux enforcement for the X.Org server process, though this reduces overall system security and should be a last resort. Restricting local user access to trusted personnel and limiting unprivileged user capabilities can reduce exploitation risk. Monitoring for crashes or abnormal X.Org server restarts can help detect attempted exploitation. Additionally, reviewing and hardening local access controls and sandboxing graphical applications may limit the impact. System administrators should also ensure that logging and alerting for X.Org server failures are enabled to facilitate rapid incident response. Coordination with Linux distribution security advisories is recommended for timely updates.

Description

A flaw was found in the X.Org server. The GLX PBuffer code does not call the XACE hook when creating the buffer, leaving it unlabeled. When the client issues another request to access that resource (as with a GetGeometry) or when it creates another resource that needs to access that buffer, such as a GC, the XSELINUX code will try to use an object that was never labeled and crash because the SID is NULL.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2024-0408 is a denial of service condition affecting systems running X.Org server version 21.1.0 with SELinux enabled. An attacker with local access and low privileges can trigger a crash of the X.Org server by exploiting the unlabeled GLX PBuffer resource, causing service disruption. This can interrupt graphical sessions, potentially impacting users and applications relying on the X server for graphical output. While the vulnerability does not allow privilege escalation, data leakage, or code execution, the loss of availability can affect productivity and system stability, especially on multi-user systems or critical infrastructure relying on graphical interfaces. Organizations with Linux desktops, workstations, or servers using X.Org with SELinux enforcing mode are at risk. The lack of user interaction requirement means the attack can be automated or scripted by a local attacker. No remote exploitation is possible, limiting the scope to local users. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the need for remediation.

References

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