CriticalCVE-2024-53197

    Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Access Vulnerability (CVE-2024-53197)

    Published In CISA KEV since Sources: Red Hat, OSV, SUSE, Debian LTS, pwn.watch, CVE.org, EUVD, BSI

    What is affected, what to do

    A vulnerability was found in the Linux kernel's USB Audio driver. This flaw allows an attacker with physical access to the system to use a malicious USB device to gain additional access.

    The vulnerability is being actively exploited; treat it as a priority. Update Linux Kernel to version 4.19.325, Linux Kernel to version 5.4.287, Linux Kernel to version 5.10.231. Immediate actions, mitigation and detection rules are in the runbook below.

    Affected
    • Linux Kernel lt 2.6.12..4.19.325
    • Linux Kernel lt 4.20..5.4.287
    • Linux Kernel lt 5.5..5.10.231
    • Linux Kernel lt 5.11..5.15.174
    • Linux Kernel lt 5.16..6.1.120
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.2..6.6.64
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.7..6.11.11
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.12..6.12.2
    Fixed in
    • Linux Kernel 4.19.325
    • Linux Kernel 5.4.287
    • Linux Kernel 5.10.231
    • Linux Kernel 5.15.174
    • Linux Kernel 6.1.120
    • Linux Kernel 6.6.64
    • Linux Kernel 6.11.11
    • Linux Kernel 6.12.2
    • Linux Kernel 6.13

    Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

    Metrics

    7.8

    Priority

    XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

    Source: NVD, CVSS v3

    7.8

    CVSS v3

    Severity High on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: Red Hat, OSV, SUSE, Debian LTS, pwn.watch, CVE.org, EUVD, BSI

    4.1 %

    EPSS score

    Moderate — model estimates 1-10% exploitation likelihood.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 90.8

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    Critical
    Priority (0–325)

    The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?

    Read in glossary
    212.20 Methodology
    Exploit maturity

    An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.

    Read in glossary
    actively exploitedSource: VulnCheck KEV (opens in a new tab) How we classify
    XIEM Effective CVSS

    XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.

    Read in glossary
    7.8 Methodology
    CVSS v3

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    7.8
    EPSS score

    The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.

    Read in glossary
    4.1 %
    Moderate — model estimates 1-10% exploitation likelihood.
    EPSS percentile

    The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.

    Read in glossary
    90.8
    Critical — this CVE ranks in the top fifth of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 80%).
    KEV status

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    Actively exploited
    Published
    In CISA KEV since

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    CISA assessment (SSVC)
    Exploitation: active · not automatable · Technical impact: total
    Source: CISA Vulnrichment, as of 9 April 2025
    CWE

    CWE is a catalogue of typical weakness types in software and hardware — such as flawed input validation, unsafe memory handling or poor authentication. Where a CVE names a concrete vulnerability in a concrete product, a CWE describes the underlying class of defect.

    Read in glossary
    CWE-787

    Response and mitigation

    Why act now?

    Prioritisation rationale

    Exploitation requires physical access, but once an attacker has a port the bug is low-complexity and yields full confidentiality, integrity and availability impact, up to kernel code execution. Its KEV listing reflects use in physical-access exploit chains, where crafted USB hardware unlocks or extracts data from locked devices, notably Android handsets. Exploitation likelihood is well above average, and CISA reports no known ransomware use. Rank mobile fleets, travel laptops and publicly accessible terminals as top priority; servers behind data-centre access control can follow in the regular patch cycle.

    1. Runbook step 1

      Immediate response (0-24 h)

      • Deploy kernel updates. Upstream fixes landed in 4.19.325, 5.4.287, 5.10.231, 5.15.174, 6.1.120, 6.6.64, 6.11.11 and 6.12.2. Distribution kernels (RHEL, SLES, Debian, Ubuntu) carry their own version strings, so look up the fixed build in each vendor advisory. Reboot afterwards, because live-patching does not reliably cover USB driver fixes.
      • Treat Android and embedded fleets (MDM-managed phones, tablets, thin clients, IoT gateways) as a separate workstream. Check the device vendors' security updates and flag devices that are behind on patch level as exposed.
      • Inventory assets with physically reachable USB ports and patch them first: kiosks, reception terminals, training rooms, travelling staff laptops and OT HMIs.
      • On hosts with no audio requirement, unload and block the driver now: modprobe -r snd-usb-audio and echo "install snd-usb-audio /bin/false" > /etc/modprobe.d/cve-2024-53197.conf.
      • Treat lost, seized or unattended devices as potentially compromised. Rotate the owner's credentials and tokens and revoke the device certificates.

    2. Runbook step 2

      Mitigation layers

      • Device control: Roll out USBGuard with a default-deny policy (ImplicitPolicyTarget=block) and allowlist only inventoried devices. Alternatively, boot with usbcore.authorized_default=0 and authorise devices explicitly.
      • Targeted quirk-path block: The vulnerable code paths belong to Creative Extigy (041e:3000) and Digidesign Mbox (0dba:1000). Deny these VID/PID pairs via udev or USBGuard. An attacker can spoof IDs, so this supplements a generic allowlist and does not replace it.
      • Endpoint hardening: Disable USB ports in BIOS/UEFI on servers, kiosks and OT systems. Password-protect the firmware, enforce Secure Boot, and use physical port blockers where needed.
      • Physical security: Enforce screen lock and full-disk encryption everywhere. On mobile devices, use MDM policy to disable USB data mode while the device is locked.
      • Least privilege: Minimise local admin rights. Compromised endpoints should not hold cached privileged domain or cloud credentials, which limits lateral movement after privilege escalation.

    3. Runbook step 3

      Detection rules

      • Kernel log (journald/syslog): Watch for enumeration of suspicious devices. SPL: index=linux "New USB device found" ("idVendor=041e, idProduct=3000" OR "idVendor=0dba, idProduct=1000"). Any hit on a host without audio hardware is an alert.
      • Kernel fault signatures: Look for oops, panic or KASAN reports tied to USB configuration handling, e.g. BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds with usb_destroy_configuration or snd_usb. Also watch for messages such as config index ... descriptor too short. Sigma shape: logsource: linux/kernel, keywords: ['usb_destroy_configuration', 'snd_usb_extigy_boot_quirk', 'snd_usb_mbox'].
      • auditd: Monitor module loading with -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S init_module,finit_module -k modload. A snd_usb_audio load on a server or kiosk is anomalous.
      • USBGuard/udev: Collect usbguard audit events with block or reject. Also flag rapid connect/disconnect cycling on the same port, which is typical of malicious attack hardware.
      • EDR process ancestry: After a USB event, hunt for new UID 0 processes whose parent is not systemd or sshd. Also look for unexpected SELinux/AppArmor policy changes or new setuid binaries shortly after a device is plugged in.

    Detection rules

    No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

    Classification under NIS2 and CRA

    Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

    NIS2

    NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.

    Read in glossary
    Actively exploited: treat the vulnerability as a priority in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2. If it is exploited in your environment, check the reporting obligation under Art. 23 (early warning within 24 hours).
    CRA

    The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.

    Read in glossary
    Since 11.09.2026, manufacturers of affected products with digital elements must report actively exploited vulnerabilities under Art. 14 CRA, with an early warning within 24 hours via ENISA's single reporting platform.
    ISO/IEC 27001

    ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.

    Read in glossary
    Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

    Description

    A vulnerability was found in the Linux kernel's USB Audio driver. This flaw allows an attacker with physical access to the system to use a malicious USB device to gain additional access. This is possible by manipulating system memory, potentially escalating privileges, or executing arbitrary code.

    Source: redhat_csaf, OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities), suse_csaf, Debian LTS Advisories, pwn.watch, NVD (NIST), CISA KEV Catalog, CVE.org (MITRE), cvelistv5, ENISA EUVD, BSI WID Portal, BSI CSAF

    Affected products

    The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

    Affected products
    Affected versionsFixed in
    LinuxLinux
    • 5.5 – < 5.10.231
    • 6.2 – < 6.6.64
    • 5.16 – < 6.1.120
    • 6.7 – < 6.11.11
    • 4.20 – < 5.4.287
    • 6.12 – < 6.12.2
    • 5.11 – < 5.15.174
    • —
    • 2.6.12 – < 4.19.325
    • 5.10.231
    • 6.6.64
    • 6.1.120
    • 6.11.11
    • 5.4.287
    • 6.12.2
    • 5.15.174
    • 6.13
    • 4.19.325
    GoogleAndroid 13
    • < 2025-04-07
    • 2025-04-07
    GoogleAndroid 14
    • < 2025-04-07
    • 2025-04-07
    GoogleAndroid 15
    • < 2025-04-07
    • 2025-04-07
    android:linux_kernel:
    • :0
    • Kernel
    • :2025-04-05
    • —

    Vendors and products

    Affected operating systems

    Affected operating systems
    Linuxdebiandebian_linux11.0
    Linuxdebianlinuxbullseye
    Linuxdebianlinux-6.1bullseye
    Linuxlinuxlinux_kernel—

    Weakness classes (CWE)

    • CWE-787Out-of-bounds Write

      Base

      The product writes data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.

      Entry at MITRE CWE-787

    Public exploit references

    Publicly reported proof-of-concepts, exploit modules and detection templates for this vulnerability. NEOSEC links to the original sources only and does not provide any exploit code.

    Public exploit references
    CISA KEV CatalogCISA Known Exploited Vulnerability (opens in a new tab)cisa.govactively exploited

    References & sources

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