VulnerabilityPublished 11 Jan 2025Updated 3 Nov 2025

CVE-2024-53680: Linux kernel · ipvs: fix UB due to uninitialized stack access in ip_vs_protocol_init()

Source GCVE Database

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 00:57 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.5Medium

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

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 11 Jan 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: 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 29 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.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity 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.

ghsa-5f32-qq4v-9hch

What to do

AI-suggested

The underlying issue is fixed by zeroing the on-stack buffer in ip_vs_protocol_init(). Until a patch is applied, avoid configurations that load or build-in the ipvs module compiled with Clang/LLVM and CONFIG_FORTIFY_SOURCE enabled. Monitor official Linux kernel advisories for updates and apply kernel updates once available.

Description

CVE-2024-53680 is a medium severity vulnerability in the Linux kernel's IP Virtual Server (ipvs) component. It involves undefined behavior caused by uninitialized stack memory access in the function ip_vs_protocol_init(). This flaw can lead to a kernel oops or a boot-time panic when the ipvs module is loaded or built-in. The issue arises from the compiler generating code that falls through without a proper return due to uninitialized buffer usage, particularly when built with Clang/LLVM and certain kernel configurations. The vulnerability does not impact confidentiality or integrity but causes availability disruption (kernel crash).

Impact

This vulnerability causes a denial of service condition by crashing the kernel (kernel oops or boot-time panic) when the ipvs module is loaded or if ipvs is built-in. It does not affect confidentiality or integrity but impacts system availability. There is no indication of remote exploitation or privilege escalation. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 5.5 (medium), reflecting local attack vector, low complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction, and impact limited to availability.

Summary

The vulnerability in the Linux kernel ipvs subsystem is due to undefined behavior from uninitialized stack memory in ip_vs_protocol_init(). The function uses a 64-byte on-stack buffer to store protocol names but leaves it uninitialized. When compiled with Clang/LLVM and certain configurations (e.g., CONFIG_FORTIFY_SOURCE), the compiler generates intermediate representation (IR) code that reads from this uninitialized buffer, leading to an unreachable instruction and no proper function terminator. This causes the native code to fall through to the next function, resulting in a kernel oops or boot panic. The root cause is the uninitialized buffer triggering compiler optimizations that remove necessary control flow instructions. The fix involves zeroing the on-stack buffer to prevent undefined behavior.

CWE-908Use of Uninitialized Resource (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: Medium
The product uses or accesses a resource that has not been initialized.
Implementation
Explicitly initialize the resource before use. If this is performed through an API function or standard procedure, follow all required steps.
Implementation
Pay close attention to complex conditionals that affect initialization, since some branches might not perform the initialization.
Implementation
Avoid race conditions (CWE-362) during initialization routines.
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 30 Oct 2026, 00:57 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-908

Technical details

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