Kernel crash via unchecked PTP header pointer
Published May 19, 2024 · Updated Aug 5, 2026
NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel Micrel PHY driver allows local users to crash the system via malformed PTP packets. The lan8814_get_sig_rx() and lan8814_get_sig_tx() functions dereference the result of ptp_parse_header() without checking whether abnormal or corrupted input caused it to return NULL. Reachability requires LAN8814 PTP timestamp processing, and the reported consequence is loss of system availability.
Summary
What happened
NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel Micrel PHY driver allows local users to crash the system via malformed PTP packets. The lan8814_get_sig_rx() and lan8814_get_sig_tx() functions dereference the result of ptp_parse_header() without checking whether abnormal or corrupted input caused it to return NULL. Reachability requires LAN8814 PTP timestamp processing, and the reported consequence is loss of system availability.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-35891
- Published
- May 19, 2024
- Updated
- Aug 5, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-476, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 19, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 5, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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- Affected versionversion=5.18
- Affected versionversion=ece19502834d84ece2e056db28257ca2aa6e4d48 <10608161696c2768f53426642f78a42bcaaa53e8
- Affected versionversion=ece19502834d84ece2e056db28257ca2aa6e4d48 <49767b0df276f12e3e7184601e09ee7430e252dc
- Affected versionversion=ece19502834d84ece2e056db28257ca2aa6e4d48 <95c1016a2d92c4c28a9d1b6d09859c00b19c0ea4
- Affected versionversion=ece19502834d84ece2e056db28257ca2aa6e4d48 <96c155943a703f0655c0c4cab540f67055960e91
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What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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