How severe is CVE-2024-36478?

CVE-2024-36478 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.

Is CVE-2024-36478 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (18th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2024-36478?

CVE-2024-36478 affects Linux Linux Kernel. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.

How do I fix CVE-2024-36478?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.

Does CVE-2024-36478 have an EU (EUVD) identifier?

Yes. CVE-2024-36478 is tracked in the ENISA EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD) as EUVD-2024-36256.

When was CVE-2024-36478 published?

CVE-2024-36478 was published on 2024-06-21 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2024-36478

CVE-2024-36478 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel with a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-476.

Key facts

Severity: Medium (CVSS 3.x base score 5.5)
EPSS exploit prediction: 0% (18th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
EU (EUVD) id: EUVD-2024-36256
Weakness: CWE-476
Affected product: Linux Linux Kernel
Published: 2024-06-21
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: null_blk: fix null-ptr-dereference while configuring 'power' and 'submit_queues' Writing 'power' and 'submit_queues' concurrently will trigger kernel panic: Test script: modprobe null_blk nr_devices=0 mkdir -p /sys/kernel/config/nullb/nullb0 while true; do echo 1 > submit_queues; echo 4 > submit_queues; done & while true; do echo 1 > power; echo 0 > power; done Test result: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000148 Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP RIP: 0010:__lock_acquire+0x41d/0x28f0 Call Trace: <TASK> lock_acquire+0x121/0x450 down_write+0x5f/0x1d0 simple_recursive_removal+0x12f/0x5c0 blk_mq_debugfs_unregister_hctxs+0x7c/0x100 blk_mq_update_nr_hw_queues+0x4a3/0x720 nullb_update_nr_hw_queues+0x71/0xf0 [null_blk] nullb_device_submit_queues_store+0x79/0xf0 [null_blk] configfs_write_iter+0x119/0x1e0 vfs_write+0x326/0x730 ksys_write+0x74/0x150 This is because del_gendisk() can concurrent with blk_mq_update_nr_hw_queues(): nullb_device_power_store nullb_apply_submit_queues null_del_dev del_gendisk nullb_update_nr_hw_queues if (!dev->nullb) // still set while gendisk is deleted return 0 blk_mq_update_nr_hw_queues dev->nullb = NULL Fix this problem by resuing the global mutex to protect nullb_device_power_store() and nullb_update_nr_hw_queues() from configfs.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2024-36478?: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: null_blk: fix null-ptr-dereference while configuring 'power' and 'submit_queues' Writing 'power' and 'submit_queues' concurrently will trigger kernel panic: Test script: modprobe null_blk nr_devices=0 mkdir -p /sys/kernel/config/nullb/nullb0 while true; do echo 1 > submit_queues; echo 4 > submit_queues; done & while true; do echo 1 > power; echo 0 > power; done Test result: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000148 Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP RIP: 0010:__lock_acquire+0x41d/0x28f0 Call Trace: <TASK> lock_acquire+0x121/0x450 down_write+0x5f/0x1d0 simple_recursive_removal+0x12f/0x5c0 blk_mq_debugfs_unregister_hctxs+0x7c/0x100 blk_mq_update_nr_hw_queues+0x4a3/0x720 nullb_update_nr_hw_queues+0x71/0xf0 [null_blk] nullb_device_submit_queues_store+0x79/0xf0 [null_blk] configfs_write_iter+0x119/0x1e0 vfs_write+0x326/0x730 ksys_write+0x74/0x150 This is because del_gendisk() can concurrent with blk_mq_update_nr_hw_queues(): nullb_device_power_store nullb_apply_submit_queues null_del_dev del_gendisk nullb_update_nr_hw_queues if (!dev->nullb) // still set while gendisk is deleted return 0 blk_mq_update_nr_hw_queues dev->nullb = NULL Fix this problem by resuing the global mutex to protect nullb_device_power_store() and nullb_update_nr_hw_queues() from configfs.
How severe is CVE-2024-36478?: CVE-2024-36478 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.
Is CVE-2024-36478 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (18th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2024-36478?: CVE-2024-36478 affects Linux Linux Kernel. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.
How do I fix CVE-2024-36478?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
Does CVE-2024-36478 have an EU (EUVD) identifier?: Yes. CVE-2024-36478 is tracked in the ENISA EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD) as EUVD-2024-36256.
When was CVE-2024-36478 published?: CVE-2024-36478 was published on 2024-06-21 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (1)

cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

More vulnerabilities in Linux Linux Kernel

CVE-2023-2163 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Incorrect verifier pruning in BPF in Linux Kernel >=5.4 leads to unsafe code paths being incorrectly marked as safe,…
CVE-2015-8104 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): The KVM subsystem in the Linux kernel through 4.2.6, and Xen 4.3.x through 4.6.x, allows guest OS users to cause a…
CVE-2015-1421 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Use-after-free vulnerability in the sctp_assoc_update function in net/sctp/associola.c in the Linux kernel before…
CVE-2014-2523 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): net/netfilter/nf_conntrack_proto_dccp.c in the Linux kernel through 3.13.6 uses a DCCP header pointer incorrectly,…
CVE-2010-2495 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): The pppol2tp_xmit function in drivers/net/pppol2tp.c in the L2TP implementation in the Linux kernel before 2.6.34 does…
CVE-2010-2521 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Multiple buffer overflows in fs/nfsd/nfs4xdr.c in the XDR implementation in the NFS server in the Linux kernel before…

All CVEs affecting Linux Linux Kernel →

Other CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference) vulnerabilities

CVE-2022-36648 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): The hardware emulation in the of_dpa_cmd_add_l2_flood of rocker device model in QEMU, as used in 7.0.0 and earlier,…
CVE-2020-14500 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Secomea GateManager all versions prior to 9.2c, An attacker can send a negative value and overwrite arbitrary data.
CVE-2010-2495 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): The pppol2tp_xmit function in drivers/net/pppol2tp.c in the L2TP implementation in the Linux kernel before 2.6.34 does…
CVE-2026-46195 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: smb: client: validate dacloffset before building…
CVE-2026-31657 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: batman-adv: hold claim backbone gateways by…
CVE-2026-31436 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dmaengine: idxd: fix possible wrong descriptor…

Browse all CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference) vulnerabilities →