Kernel-memory corruption via empty USB gadget string
Published Aug 7, 2024 · Updated Aug 5, 2026
Linux kernel configfs contains an out-of-bounds access that allows local administrators to corrupt kernel memory using an empty USB gadget string. An empty string makes its length zero, but usb_string_copy reads str[-1] while checking for a newline and then writes a NUL to that invalid byte. Reaching the path requires privileged local access to configure a USB gadget, and the disclosed primitive is a one-byte kernel-memory underflow.
Summary
What happened
Linux kernel configfs contains an out-of-bounds access that allows local administrators to corrupt kernel memory using an empty USB gadget string. An empty string makes its length zero, but usb_string_copy reads str[-1] while checking for a newline and then writes a NUL to that invalid byte. Reaching the path requires privileged local access to configure a USB gadget, and the disclosed primitive is a one-byte kernel-memory underflow.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-42236
- Published
- Aug 7, 2024
- Updated
- Aug 5, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-787
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- admin
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 7, 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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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=3.10
- Affected versionversion=88af8bbe4ef781031ad3370847553f3b42ba0076 <2d16f63d8030903e5031853e79d731ee5d474e70
- Affected versionversion=88af8bbe4ef781031ad3370847553f3b42ba0076 <6d3c721e686ea6c59e18289b400cc95c76e927e0
- Affected versionversion=88af8bbe4ef781031ad3370847553f3b42ba0076 <72b8ee0d9826e8ed00e0bdfce3e46b98419b37ce
- Affected versionversion=88af8bbe4ef781031ad3370847553f3b42ba0076 <a444c3fc264119801575ab086e03fb4952f23fd0
- Affected versionversion=88af8bbe4ef781031ad3370847553f3b42ba0076 <c95fbdde87e39e5e0ae27f28bf6711edfb985caa
- Affected versionversion=88af8bbe4ef781031ad3370847553f3b42ba0076 <d1205033e912f9332c1dbefa812e6ceb0575ce0a
- Affected versionversion=88af8bbe4ef781031ad3370847553f3b42ba0076 <e8474a10c535e6a2024c3b06e37e4a3a23beb490
- Affected versionversion=88af8bbe4ef781031ad3370847553f3b42ba0076 <eecfefad0953b2f31aaefa058f7f348ff39c4bba
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
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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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