CVE-2024-45038 | Device crash via malformed MQTT packet when downlink is enabled in Meshtastic device firmware

Meshtastic device firmware is a firmware for meshtastic devices to run an open source, off-grid, decentralized, mesh network built to run on affordable, low-power devices. Meshtastic device firmware is subject to a denial of serivce vulnerability in MQTT handling, fixed in version 2.4.1 of the Meshtastic firmware and on the Meshtastic public MQTT Broker. It's strongly suggested that all users of Meshtastic, particularly those that connect to a privately hosted MQTT server, update to this or a more recent stable version right away. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

Published: 2024-08-27 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2024-45038 is rated Moderate Risk (45.5/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.60%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2024-45038

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.37% 0.60% +0.23%
2 2026-04-08 0.48% 0.37% -0.11%
3 2025-11-21 — 0.48% —

Full EPSS history (9 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2024-45038

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2024-45038

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2024-45038

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
meshtastic meshtastic_firmware < 2.4.1 cpe:2.3:o:meshtastic:meshtastic_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2024-45038

cvelogic Threat Intelligence