NULL pointer dereference in Linux

CVE-2024-56774

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: add a sanity check for btrfs root in btrfs_search_slot() Syzbot reports a null-ptr-deref in btrfs_search_slot(). The reproducer is using rescue=ibadroots, and the extent tree root is corrupted thus the extent tree is NULL. When scrub tries to search the extent tree to gather the needed extent info, btrfs_search_slot() doesn't check if the target root is NULL or not, resulting the null-ptr-deref. Add sanity check for btrfs root before using it in btrfs_search_slot().

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.002 (9.7th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 10th percentile — 9.7% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2024-56774: held from 0.002 to 0.002.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.002 · newest: 0.002 · change: 0.000

Affected products

  • Linux — versions 42437a6386ffeaaf200731e73d723ea491f3fe7d, 5.11, 0
  • Linux Kernel — versions 6.13

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2024-56774?
CVE-2024-56774 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under NULL Pointer Dereference. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2025-01-08.
How severe is CVE-2024-56774?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.
Is CVE-2024-56774 known to be exploited?
1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.