CVE-2024-48519: Ardupilot Rover Buffer Overflow DoS Flaw

CVE-2024-48519 Overview

CVE-2024-48519 is a buffer overflow vulnerability [CWE-120] affecting the ArduPilot Rover autopilot firmware at commit c56439b045162058df0ff136afea3081fcd06d38. The flaw resides in the AP_InertialSensor_ADIS1647x.cpp source file, which implements driver support for the ADIS1647x inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor. A local attacker can trigger the overflow to cause a denial of service against the ArduRover process. Exploitation requires local access but no privileges or user interaction. The defect impacts availability only, with no confidentiality or integrity exposure.

Critical Impact

A local attacker can crash the ArduPilot Rover autopilot by exploiting a buffer overflow in the ADIS1647x sensor handling code, disrupting vehicle control.

Affected Products

• ArduPilot Rover (ArduRover) at commit c56439b045162058df0ff136afea3081fcd06d38
• AP_InertialSensor_ADIS1647x.cpp driver component
• Deployments using the ADIS1647x inertial sensor

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-05-13 - CVE-2024-48519 published to NVD
• 2026-05-14 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-48519

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability lives in AP_InertialSensor_ADIS1647x.cpp, the driver that interfaces with the Analog Devices ADIS1647x inertial measurement unit. ArduPilot Rover relies on inertial telemetry from this sensor to maintain navigation state and vehicle stability. A buffer overflow condition in this driver allows a local attacker to corrupt memory and force the autopilot process to terminate. The classification under [CWE-120] indicates a classic copy-without-checking-size flaw at the buffer handling layer. Because the impact set is confined to availability, the practical consequence is a denial of service against the running flight controller rather than code execution or data theft.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper bounds enforcement when handling sensor data buffers inside the ADIS1647x driver. Input from the sensor pathway or its associated data structures is copied without validating that the destination buffer has sufficient capacity. When the boundary condition is reached, adjacent memory is overwritten and the autopilot process aborts. The EPSS score of 0.013% reflects the constrained attack surface and the specialized environment in which the vulnerability is reachable.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires local access to the system running the affected ArduRover firmware. An attacker with the ability to influence sensor inputs or driver buffers triggers the overflow condition. No authentication or user interaction is required. The result is the termination of the autopilot process, which on a moving rover can translate into loss of vehicle control during operation.

The vulnerability manifests in the ADIS1647x driver buffer handling routine. See the GitHub Issue Discussion for technical details from the upstream maintainers.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-48519

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected termination or repeated restarts of the ArduRover autopilot process during ADIS1647x sensor operations
• Crash logs or core dumps referencing AP_InertialSensor_ADIS1647x.cpp
• Anomalous sensor data patterns immediately preceding autopilot failures

Detection Strategies

• Monitor process supervision logs on companion computers for ArduRover crash and respawn events
• Inspect dmesg and systemd journal entries for segmentation faults associated with the autopilot binary
• Compare firmware build commit hashes against the vulnerable commit c56439b045162058df0ff136afea3081fcd06d38

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable verbose logging on inertial sensor subsystems to capture pre-crash telemetry
• Forward autopilot crash artifacts to a central log store for correlation across fleet deployments
• Track sensor health metrics and alert on abnormal IMU read failures that precede process termination

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-48519

Immediate Actions Required

• Identify systems running the vulnerable ArduRover commit c56439b045162058df0ff136afea3081fcd06d38 and downstream forks
• Restrict local access to flight controllers and companion computers to authorized personnel only
• Review the upstream GitHub Issue Discussion for remediation status

Patch Information

No formal vendor advisory or patch reference is published in the NVD entry at the time of disclosure. Operators should track the upstream ArduPilot repository and the linked GitHub issue for fix commits addressing the ADIS1647x driver buffer handling. Rebuild and redeploy ArduRover firmware from a commit that incorporates the bounds-check fix once available.

Workarounds

• Limit physical and shell access to the autopilot hardware to trusted operators
• Where operationally feasible, disable or substitute the ADIS1647x sensor driver until a patched build is deployed
• Run the autopilot under a process supervisor that captures crash artifacts and restarts the service to reduce operational downtime

# Verify the running ArduRover commit against the vulnerable hash
git -C /path/to/ardupilot rev-parse HEAD
# Vulnerable commit: c56439b045162058df0ff136afea3081fcd06d38