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🛡️ CVE-2024-50038 — kernel

🟡 CVSS 5.5 — Medium ✅ No Known Exploit NVD
5.5
CVSS Score
0 Low4 Medium7 High9 Critical10

Description

netfilter: xtables: avoid NFPROTO_UNSPEC where needed

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

netfilter: xtables: avoid NFPROTO_UNSPEC where needed

syzbot managed to call xt_cluster match via ebtables:

WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 11 at net/netfilter/xt_cluster.c:72 xt_cluster_mt+0x196/0x780

[..]

ebt_do_table+0x174b/0x2a40

Module registers to NFPROTO_UNSPEC, but it assumes ipv4/ipv6 packet

processing. As this is only useful to restrict locally terminating

TCP/UDP traffic, register this for ipv4 and ipv6 family only.

Pablo points out that this is a general issue, direct users of the

set/getsockopt interface can call into targets/matches that were only

intended for use with ip(6)tables.

Check all UNSPEC matches and targets for similar issues:

  • matches and targets are fine except if they assume skb_network_header()

is valid -- this is only true when called from inet layer: ip(6) stack

pulls the ip/ipv6 header into linear data area.

  • targets that return XT_CONTINUE or other xtables verdicts must be

restricted too, they are incompatbile with the ebtables traverser, e.g.

EBT_CONTINUE is a completely different value than XT_CONTINUE.

Most matches/targets are changed to register for NFPROTO_IPV4/IPV6, as

they are provided for use by ip(6)tables.

The MARK target is also used by arptables, so register for NFPROTO_ARP too.

While at it, bail out if connbytes fails to enable the corresponding

conntrack family.

This change passes the selftests in iptables.git.

How this vulnerability can be exploited

This issue can be reached with local access to the system, attack complexity is low, an attacker needs low-level privileges on the target. No user interaction is required. The scope is unchanged, so the impact stays within the vulnerable component. Rated impact: confidentiality none, integrity none, availability high.

CVSS metrics in full

The score comes from this vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

  • Attack vector: Local — a local account, shell or session on the host is needed.
  • Attack complexity: Low — the attack works reliably, with no preparation.
  • Privileges required: Low — an ordinary user account is enough.
  • User interaction: None — nobody has to be tricked into anything.
  • Scope: Unchanged — the damage stays inside the vulnerable component.
  • Confidentiality impact: None.
  • Integrity impact: None.
  • Availability impact: High — total loss, or loss the attacker controls.

Affected software

CVE-2024-50038 is recorded against 2 packages.

  • kernel (from 6.7.0 up to 6.11.4)
  • linux-kernel

Timeline and source

Published on 21 October 2024 and last revised on 12 August 2026. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. A vendor advisory or fix has been published. Record sourced from NVD.

References

git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
lists.debian.org (Web)
github.com (Advisory)
nvd.nist.gov (Advisory)
git.kernel.org (Package)

Other advisories for this package

kernel has other advisories on record. If you are patching this one, these are worth checking on the same host:

CVE-2024-50038 on other distributions

Each distribution ships its own build and its own fixed version. Pick the one you run:

Details

Severity Medium
CVSS Score 5.5
CVSS Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CWE N/A
Public Exploit ✅ No
Source NVD
Published 2024-10-21
Updated 2026-08-20
Modified 2026-08-12

Affected Packages

Software From version Fixed in
kernel 6.7.0 6.11.4
linux-kernel — —

Similar Threats

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ⓘ Data Notice: The information presented above has been compiled from publicly available internet sources. Boteraser aggregates this data solely for informational purposes and does not independently classify, evaluate, or endorse any findings about the vulnerabilities listed. The accuracy and completeness of this information is the sole responsibility of the original publishers. Boteraser and its operators accept no liability for any decisions made based on this data.

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