---
id: CVE-2024-42282
title: >-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:


  net: mediatek: Fix potential NULL pointer dereference in dummy net_device
  handling


  Move the freeing of the dummy net_device from mtk_free_dev() to

  mtk_remove().


  Previ…
summary: >-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:


  net: mediatek: Fix potential NULL pointer dereference in dummy net_device
  handling


  Move the freeing of the dummy net_device from mtk_free_dev() to

  mtk_remove().


  Previ…
severity: medium
cvss: 5.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'
cwe:
  - CWE-476
vendor: linux
product: linux_kernel
affected:
  - 'linux_kernel >= 6.10, < 6.10.3'
patched:
  - linux_kernel 6.10.3
published: '2024-08-17'
updated: '2026-10-03'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-03T11:17:30.883'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-42282'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/16f3a28cf5f876a7f3550d8f4c870a7b41bcfaef'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/81e82340170ae82f8cc28e76c13a0069c0d47cb4'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/af6bd5c9901b13a26eaf4d57d97a813297791596'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: partial
  timestamp: '2024-09-10T16:11:33.179796Z'
epss: 0.00193
epssPercentile: 0.08139
ingestedAt: '2026-10-03T11:43:42.102Z'
---

## Overview

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net: mediatek: Fix potential NULL pointer dereference in dummy net_device handling

Move the freeing of the dummy net_device from mtk_free_dev() to
mtk_remove().

Previously, if alloc_netdev_dummy() failed in mtk_probe(),
eth->dummy_dev would be NULL. The error path would then call
mtk_free_dev(), which in turn called free_netdev() assuming dummy_dev
was allocated (but it was not), potentially causing a NULL pointer
dereference.

By moving free_netdev() to mtk_remove(), we ensure it's only called when
mtk_probe() has succeeded and dummy_dev is fully allocated. This
addresses a potential NULL pointer dereference detected by Smatch[1].

## Affected

- `linux_kernel >= 6.10, < 6.10.3`

## Remediation

Upgrade past the affected range:

- `linux_kernel 6.10.3`