Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2024-46770 is a Linux kernel crash bug in the Intel Ethernet ice driver. During a physical-function reset, management queries through ethtool could reach driver resources that had already been deleted, causing a NULL pointer dereference. The main business risk is host instability on systems using this driver, not data theft based on the provided evidence.
Executive priority
Treat this as a stability and availability fix for Linux network infrastructure. Prioritize production servers using affected Intel Ethernet ice driver hardware, especially where unexpected host crashes would affect critical services.
Technical view
The ice driver did not detach the net device during PF reset, allowing ethtool callbacks to run concurrently against reset-torn-down state. The upstream fix detaches the device before reset and reattaches during rebuild, making affected ethtool operations fail safely instead of dereferencing NULL resources.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely limited to Linux systems using the ice network driver, commonly Intel Ethernet adapters, on affected kernel lines. Systems without this driver or relevant hardware are unlikely to be exposed based on the supplied sources.
Exploitation context
The source bundle shows a reproducible local crash condition during reset and ethtool access. It does not cite remote exploitation, privilege escalation, public weaponization, or active exploitation. The CVE is not marked KEV in the provided data.
Researcher notes
The public description supports a race between PF reset teardown and ethtool callback execution. The fix uses netif_device_detach and netif_device_attach to gate net core callbacks during reset. Evidence is incomplete for impact beyond NULL pointer dereference denial of service.
Mitigation direction
- Update to a kernel containing the referenced stable fixes.
- Check Linux distribution advisories for packaged kernel updates.
- Prioritize hosts using the ice network driver in production.
- Avoid unnecessary manual reset and driver-management activity until patched.
Validation and detection
- Inventory systems loading the Linux ice driver.
- Map installed kernel versions against vendor fixed packages.
- Confirm the relevant stable patch is present in kernel changelogs.
- Review logs for recent kernel oops events involving ice or ethtool.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
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-2024-46770 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
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.
SSVC decision data
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/721f27f489a47ed0d8690b73fc1f070c2eb180cfCVE reference, Linux
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9e3ffb839249eca113062587659224f856fe14e5CVE reference, Linux
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/efe8effe138044a4747d1112ebb8c454d1663723CVE reference, Linux
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/36486c9e8e01b84faaee47203eac0b7e9cc7fa4aCVE reference, Linux
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d11a67634227f9f9da51938af085fb41a733848fCVE reference, Linux
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/01/msg00001.htmlCVE reference, CVE
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.