Unlimited number of NTS-KE connections can crash ntpd-rs server

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS 4.0

8.7 · CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N · score source

EPSS

• CVE-2024-38528: 0.72% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 53.88 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Summary Missing limit for accepted NTS-KE connections allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to crash ntpd-rs when an NTS-KE server is configured. Non NTS-KE server configurations, such as the default ntpd-rs configuration, are unaffected. Details Operating systems have a limit for the number of open file descriptors (which includes sockets) in a single process, e.g. 1024 on Linux by default. When ntpd-rs is configured as an NTS server, it accepts TCP connections for the NTS-KE service. If the process has reached the descriptor limit and tries to accept a new TCP connection, the accept() system call will return with the EMFILE error and cause ntpd-rs to abort. A remote attacker can open a large number of parallel TCP connections to the server to trigger this crash. The connections need to be opened quickly enough to avoid the key-exchange-timeout-ms timeout (by default 1000 milliseconds). Impact Only NTS-KE server configuration are affected. Those without an NTS-KE server…

Published by the source

28 Jun 2024, 21:05 UTC

Last modified by the source

9 Aug 2024, 05:06 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:38 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-2xpx-vcmq-5f72

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2024-38528

Advisory: Unlimited number of NTS-KE connections can crash ntpd-rs server
IDs: CVE-2024-38528, GHSA-2xpx-vcmq-5f72
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2024-38528 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:38 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: High (CVSS 8.7)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: ntpd 1.1.3. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- crates.io ntpd: affected >= 0.3.1, <= 1.1.2; fixed in 1.1.3

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- crates.io ntpd: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on ntpd.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-2xpx-vcmq-5f72 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-2xpx-vcmq-5f72 lists affected ranges: crates.io ntpd >=0.3.1 <=1.1.2)

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