CVE-2024-38538
Linux Kernel 2.6.12 – 6.1.93
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:HCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2024-38538 is a high-severity Use of Uninitialized Resource (CWE-908) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 7.3 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique OS Credential Dumping (T1003); ranked at the 20th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-15 (Development Process, Standards, and Tools) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-37401
Vulnerability Data
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: bridge: xmit: make sure we have at least eth header len bytes syzbot triggered an uninit value[1] error in bridge device's xmit path by sending a short (less than…
more
ETH_HLEN bytes) skb. To fix it check if we can actually pull that amount instead of assuming. Tested with dropwatch: drop at: br_dev_xmit+0xb93/0x12d0 [bridge] (0xffffffffc06739b3) origin: software timestamp: Mon May 13 11:31:53 2024 778214037 nsec protocol: 0x88a8 length: 2 original length: 2 drop reason: PKT_TOO_SMALL [1] BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in br_dev_xmit+0x61d/0x1cb0 net/bridge/br_device.c:65 br_dev_xmit+0x61d/0x1cb0 net/bridge/br_device.c:65 __netdev_start_xmit include/linux/netdevice.h:4903 [inline] netdev_start_xmit include/linux/netdevice.h:4917 [inline] xmit_one net/core/dev.c:3531 [inline] dev_hard_start_xmit+0x247/0xa20 net/core/dev.c:3547 __dev_queue_xmit+0x34db/0x5350 net/core/dev.c:4341 dev_queue_xmit include/linux/netdevice.h:3091 [inline] __bpf_tx_skb net/core/filter.c:2136 [inline] __bpf_redirect_common net/core/filter.c:2180 [inline] __bpf_redirect+0x14a6/0x1620 net/core/filter.c:2187 ____bpf_clone_redirect net/core/filter.c:2460 [inline] bpf_clone_redirect+0x328/0x470 net/core/filter.c:2432 ___bpf_prog_run+0x13fe/0xe0f0 kernel/bpf/core.c:1997 __bpf_prog_run512+0xb5/0xe0 kernel/bpf/core.c:2238 bpf_dispatcher_nop_func include/linux/bpf.h:1234 [inline] __bpf_prog_run include/linux/filter.h:657 [inline] bpf_prog_run include/linux/filter.h:664 [inline] bpf_test_run+0x499/0xc30 net/bpf/test_run.c:425 bpf_prog_test_run_skb+0x14ea/0x1f20 net/bpf/test_run.c:1058 bpf_prog_test_run+0x6b7/0xad0 kernel/bpf/syscall.c:4269 __sys_bpf+0x6aa/0xd90 kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5678 __do_sys_bpf kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5767 [inline] __se_sys_bpf kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5765 [inline] __x64_sys_bpf+0xa0/0xe0 kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5765 x64_sys_call+0x96b/0x3b50 arch/x86/include/generated/asm/syscalls_64.h:322 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xcf/0x1e0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation (including static analysis) can find uses of uninitialized resources after they are coded.
Requiring documented development standards and tools can mandate initialization checks and safe patterns that stop the weakness from being introduced.
Engineering principles can require explicit resource initialization before use, structurally avoiding uninitialized access.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Secure SDLC activities such as static analysis and code review directly prevent use of uninitialized resources while also addressing many other weaknesses.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing in development and acceptance can detect uninitialized resource usage through dynamic analysis and fuzzing.
Secure development life cycle mandates initialization checks and static analysis that can catch uninitialized resource use.
Application security requirements can specify mandatory initialization of variables and resources before use.
Secure system architecture and engineering principles include defensive coding practices that prevent use of uninitialized memory or objects.
Secure coding standards directly require explicit initialization of all variables and resources, substantially mitigating CWE-908.