Kernel crash via unchecked PHY allocation
Published Dec 27, 2024 · Updated May 11, 2026
NULL pointer dereference in the Realtek USB 3.0 PHY driver in Linux 6.6 and 6.9 allows local users to crash the kernel. rtk_usb3phy_probe() stores a devm_kzalloc() result in phy_cfg and passes it to memcpy() without checking whether allocation returned NULL. Reaching the fault requires probing a compatible Realtek USB 3.0 PHY while that kernel allocation fails, and the bounded consequence is a kernel crash.
Summary
What happened
NULL pointer dereference in the Realtek USB 3.0 PHY driver in Linux 6.6 and 6.9 allows local users to crash the kernel. rtk_usb3phy_probe() stores a devm_kzalloc() result in phy_cfg and passes it to memcpy() without checking whether allocation returned NULL. Reaching the fault requires probing a compatible Realtek USB 3.0 PHY while that kernel allocation fails, and the bounded consequence is a kernel crash.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-53204
- Published
- Dec 27, 2024
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-476, T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Dec 27, 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=6.6
- Affected versionversion=6.9
- Affected versionversion=adda6e82a7de7d6d478f6c8ef127f0ac51c510a1 <258ea41c926b7b3a16d0d7aa210a1401c4a1601b
- Affected versionversion=adda6e82a7de7d6d478f6c8ef127f0ac51c510a1 <e27877990e54bfe4246dd850f7ec8646c999ce58
- Affected versionversion=b48415afe5fd7e6f5912d4c45720217b77d8e7ea <48d52d3168749e10c1c37cd4ceccd18625851741
- Affected versionversion=b48415afe5fd7e6f5912d4c45720217b77d8e7ea <776f13ad1f88485206f1dca5ef138553106950e5
- Affected versionversion=b48415afe5fd7e6f5912d4c45720217b77d8e7ea <bf373d2919d98f3d1fe1b19a0304f72fe74386d9
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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