CVE-2024-42282: Linux kernel · NULL Pointer Dereference
Source GCVE Database
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium.
Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC
- EPSS
- 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 12% 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:HExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 17 Aug 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.
What to do
AI-suggested
A fix is available and has been applied in the Linux kernel by relocating the free_netdev() call to mtk_remove(). Users should update to the fixed kernel version that includes this patch to remediate the vulnerability.
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: mediatek: Fix potential NULL pointer dereference in dummy net_device handling Move the freeing of the dummy net_device from mtk_free_dev() to mtk_remove(). Previously, if alloc_netdev_dummy() failed in mtk_probe(), eth->dummy_dev would be NULL. The error path would then call mtk_free_dev(), which in turn called free_netdev() assuming dummy_dev was allocated (but it was not), potentially causing a NULL pointer dereference. By moving free_netdev() to mtk_remove(), we ensure it's only called when mtk_probe() has succeeded and dummy_dev is fully allocated. This addresses a potential NULL pointer dereference detected by Smatch[1].
References
- nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-42282 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/16f3a28cf5f876a7f3550d8f4c870a7b41bcfaef (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/81e82340170ae82f8cc28e76c13a0069c0d47cb4 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/af6bd5c9901b13a26eaf4d57d97a813297791596 (opens in a new tab)