Kernel crash via unchecked PTP worker cancellation
Published Jun 19, 2024 · Updated May 11, 2026
Denial of service in the Micrel LAN8841 PHY driver in Linux allows local users to crash the kernel by cycling an affected port. The lan8841_suspend function calls ptp_cancel_worker_sync with ptp_priv->ptp_clock even when that pointer was never initialized. Local users need control of a LAN8841 port on a kernel built without NETWORK_PHY_TIMESTAMPING; bringing the port up and down causes a kernel crash and service interruption.
Summary
What happened
Denial of service in the Micrel LAN8841 PHY driver in Linux allows local users to crash the kernel by cycling an affected port. The lan8841_suspend function calls ptp_cancel_worker_sync with ptp_priv->ptp_clock even when that pointer was never initialized. Local users need control of a LAN8841 port on a kernel built without NETWORK_PHY_TIMESTAMPING; bringing the port up and down causes a kernel crash and service interruption.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-38593
- Published
- Jun 19, 2024
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-908, T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jun 19, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=6.5
- Affected versionversion=cc75549548482ed653c23f212544e58cb38ea980 <3ddf170e4a604f5d4d9459a36993f5e92b53e8b0
- Affected versionversion=cc75549548482ed653c23f212544e58cb38ea980 <3fd4282d5f25c3c97fef3ef0b89b82ef4e2bc975
- Affected versionversion=cc75549548482ed653c23f212544e58cb38ea980 <64a47cf634ae44e92be24ebc982410841093bd7b
- Affected versionversion=cc75549548482ed653c23f212544e58cb38ea980 <aea27a92a41dae14843f92c79e9e42d8f570105c
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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