LiveActive security incident?Get immediate response
CVE Record

CVE-2024-36901: ipv6: prevent NULL dereference in ip6_output()

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipv6: prevent NULL dereference in ip6_output() According to syzbot, there is a chance that ip6_dst_idev() returns NULL in ip6_output(). Most places in IPv6 stack deal with a NULL idev just fine, but not here. syzbot reported: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc00000000bc: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN PTI KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x00000000000005e0-0x00000000000005e7] CPU: 0 PID: 9775 Comm: syz-executor.4 Not tainted 6.9.0-rc5-syzkaller-00157-g6a30653b604a #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 03/27/2024 RIP: 0010:ip6_output+0x231/0x3f0 net/ipv6/ip6_output.c:237 Code: 3c 1e 00 49 89 df 74 08 4c 89 ef e8 19 58 db f7 48 8b 44 24 20 49 89 45 00 49 89 c5 48 8d 9d e0 05 00 00 48 89 d8 48 c1 e8 03 <42> 0f b6 04 38 84 c0 4c 8b 74 24 28 0f 85 61 01 00 00 8b 1b 31 ff RSP: 0018:ffffc9000927f0d8 EFLAGS: 00010202 RAX: 00000000000000bc RBX: 00000000000005e0 RCX: 0000000000040000 RDX: ffffc900131f9000 RSI: 0000000000004f47 RDI: 0000000000004f48 RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: ffffffff8a1f0b9a R09: 1ffffffff1f51fad R10: dffffc0000000000 R11: fffffbfff1f51fae R12: ffff8880293ec8c0 R13: ffff88805d7fc000 R14: 1ffff1100527d91a R15: dffffc0000000000 FS: 00007f135c6856c0(0000) GS:ffff8880b9400000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000000020000080 CR3: 0000000064096000 CR4: 00000000003506f0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: <TASK> NF_HOOK include/linux/netfilter.h:314 [inline] ip6_xmit+0xefe/0x17f0 net/ipv6/ip6_output.c:358 sctp_v6_xmit+0x9f2/0x13f0 net/sctp/ipv6.c:248 sctp_packet_transmit+0x26ad/0x2ca0 net/sctp/output.c:653 sctp_packet_singleton+0x22c/0x320 net/sctp/outqueue.c:783 sctp_outq_flush_ctrl net/sctp/outqueue.c:914 [inline] sctp_outq_flush+0x6d5/0x3e20 net/sctp/outqueue.c:1212 sctp_side_effects net/sctp/sm_sideeffect.c:1198 [inline] sctp_do_sm+0x59cc/0x60c0 net/sctp/sm_sideeffect.c:1169 sctp_primitive_ASSOCIATE+0x95/0xc0 net/sctp/primitive.c:73 __sctp_connect+0x9cd/0xe30 net/sctp/socket.c:1234 sctp_connect net/sctp/socket.c:4819 [inline] sctp_inet_connect+0x149/0x1f0 net/sctp/socket.c:4834 __sys_connect_file net/socket.c:2048 [inline] __sys_connect+0x2df/0x310 net/socket.c:2065 __do_sys_connect net/socket.c:2075 [inline] __se_sys_connect net/socket.c:2072 [inline] __x64_sys_connect+0x7a/0x90 net/socket.c:2072 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xf5/0x240 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
Discuss exposureBack to CVEs
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

CVE-2024-36901 is a Linux kernel IPv6 bug that can trigger a NULL pointer dereference in ip6_output(). The public record shows a kernel crash found by syzbot, not confirmed real-world exploitation. Business risk is mainly service instability on affected Linux systems until vendor kernel updates are applied.

Executive priority

Treat as a normal-priority kernel stability update unless affected systems are critical, internet-facing, or have strict uptime requirements. There is no source-backed evidence of active exploitation, but kernel crashes can still create operational impact.

Technical view

The flaw occurs when ip6_dst_idev() can return NULL and ip6_output() dereferences it. The supplied trace reaches the bug through SCTP over IPv6 during connect processing. Kernel stable fixes are referenced, but the bundle provides no CVSS score, CWE, or exploitability assessment.

Likely exposure

Exposure is likely limited to Linux systems running affected kernel versions with relevant IPv6 networking paths. The bundle lists affected Linux versions including 2.6.27, 5.10.222, 5.15.163, 6.1.91, 6.6.31, 6.8.10, and 6.9, but distribution backports may change practical exposure.

Exploitation context

The evidence is a syzbot crash report and Linux stable fix references. The CVE is not marked CISA KEV in the bundle, and no cited source confirms active exploitation, public weaponization, or remote exploit reliability.

Researcher notes

The source bundle lacks CVSS, CWE, and detailed affected CPEs. The stack trace suggests an IPv6/SCTP-triggered kernel crash path, but does not establish attacker requirements, privileges, or remote reachability. Validate against exact distro kernels because Linux fixes are often backported without changing upstream version numbers.

Mitigation direction

  • Apply distribution kernel updates containing the referenced Linux stable fixes.
  • Confirm vendor advisories for exact fixed package versions and backports.
  • Prioritize externally exposed or high-availability Linux hosts using IPv6 networking.
  • If patching is delayed, check vendor guidance for supported compensating controls.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory Linux kernel versions across servers, containers, and appliances.
  • Map installed kernels to vendor fixed versions or referenced stable commits.
  • Check crash logs for ip6_output NULL dereference or matching IPv6/SCTP traces.
  • Run regression testing for IPv6 networking after kernel updates.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
8

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.

ATT&CK lookup starting points

Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.

cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2024-36901 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

Open ATT&CK lookup
Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Unknown
CVSS
Not scored
Known Exploited
No
Published
Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

0CVSS vectors
3Timeline events
2ADP providers
7Source links

SSVC decision data

CISA-ADPCISA Coordinator
Timestamp
Version
2.0.3
Exploitation: noneAutomatable: noTechnical Impact: partial

Vulnerability timeline

Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.

  1. CVE reservedCVE Program

    The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.

  2. CVE publishedCVE Program

    The CVE record was published.

  3. CVE updatedCVE Program

    The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.

ADP provider summaries

CISA-ADPCISA ADP Vulnrichment
other:ssvc
CVECVE Program Container

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
LinuxLinux778d80be52699596bf70e0eb0761cf5e1e46088d, 778d80be52699596bf70e0eb0761cf5e1e46088d, 778d80be52699596bf70e0eb0761cf5e1e46088d, 778d80be52699596bf70e0eb0761cf5e1e46088d, 778d80be52699596bf70e0eb0761cf5e1e46088d, 778d80be52699596bf70e0eb0761cf5e1e46088dunaffected
LinuxLinux2.6.27, 0, 5.10.222, 5.15.163, 6.1.91, 6.6.31, 6.8.10, 6.9affected
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.