CVE-2024-36478
MEDIUMDescription
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 to fix
Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.
CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
Low risk: more likely to be exploited than 18% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference) vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2023-21758 | High | 7.5 | 92% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2023-21547 | High | 7.5 | 88% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2014-3470 | Medium | 4.3 | 86% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2021-44224 | High | 8.2 | 82% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2016-0742 | High | 7.5 | 82% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2009-1386 | Medium | 5.0 | 80% | - | Fix |
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Start freeThis product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2025-11-03.