CVE-2024-42073

Kernel memory corruption via absolute port indexing

Published Jul 29, 2024 · Updated May 11, 2026

Memory corruption in the mlxsw Spectrum-4 buffer driver in Linux allows local users to corrupt kernel memory through devlink operations. In drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlxsw/spectrum_buffers.c, the driver encodes absolute port numbers in a page-relative 256-bit SBSR mask, indexing beyond the intended payload for ports above 255. The snapshot and clear-maximum operations require administrative permission and Spectrum-4 hardware with more than 256 ports; triggering the flaw produces a slab use-after-free and kernel-memory corruption.

CVSS severityUnavailable
Unscored
EPSS probability0.22%
Next 30 days · Sep 17, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Memory corruption in the mlxsw Spectrum-4 buffer driver in Linux allows local users to corrupt kernel memory through devlink operations. In drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlxsw/spectrum_buffers.c, the driver encodes absolute port numbers in a page-relative 256-bit SBSR mask, indexing beyond the intended payload for ports above 255. The snapshot and clear-maximum operations require administrative permission and Spectrum-4 hardware with more than 256 ports; triggering the flaw produces a slab use-after-free and kernel-memory corruption.

The record

CVE
CVE-2024-42073
Published
Jul 29, 2024
Updated
May 11, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
Unavailable
Attack vector
local
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jul 29, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=5.17
  2. Affected versionversion=f8538aec88b46642553a9ba9efa0952f5958dbed <942901e0fc74ad4b7992ef7ca9336e68d5fd6d36
  3. Affected versionversion=f8538aec88b46642553a9ba9efa0952f5958dbed <bf8781ede7bd9a37c0fcabca78976e61300b5a1a
  4. Affected versionversion=f8538aec88b46642553a9ba9efa0952f5958dbed <bfa86a96912faa0b6142a918db88cc0c738a769e
  5. Affected versionversion=f8538aec88b46642553a9ba9efa0952f5958dbed <c28947de2bed40217cf256c5d0d16880054fcf13

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=5.17; version=f8538aec88b46642553a9ba9efa0952f5958dbed <942901e0fc74ad4b7992ef7ca9336e68d5fd6d36; version=f8538aec88b46642553a9ba9efa0952f5958dbed <bf8781ede7bd9a37c0fcabca78976e61300b5a1a; version=f8538aec88b46642553a9ba9efa0952f5958dbed <bfa86a96912faa0b6142a918db88cc0c738a769e; version=f8538aec88b46642553a9ba9efa0952f5958dbed <c28947de2bed40217cf256c5d0d16880054fcf13

Published CVSS scores

No CVSS assessment is available in this record.

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

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.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesadmin
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

No sourced classifications are available.

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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