Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2024-26704

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-04-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.19.307 / 5.4.269 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: fix double-free of blocks due to wrong extents moved_len In ext4_move_extents(), moved_len is only updated when all moves are successfully executed, and only discards orig_inode and donor_inode preallocations when moved_len is not zero. When the loop fails to exit after successfully moving some extents, moved_len is not updated and remains at 0, so it does not discard the preallocations. If the moved extents overlap with the preallocated extents, the overlapped extents are freed twice in ext4_mb_release_inode_pa() and ext4_process_freed_data() (as described in commit 94d7c16cbbbd ("ext4: Fix double-free of blocks with EXT4_IOC_MOVE_EXT")), and bb_free is incremented twice. Hence when trim is executed, a zero-division bug is triggered in mb_update_avg_fragment_size() because bb_free is not zero and bb_fragments is zero. Therefore, update move_len after each extent move to avoid the issue.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-415

The same block of memory is freed twice, corrupting the allocator's bookkeeping in ways an attacker can shape toward code execution. It usually stems from tangled ownership of a pointer. The fix is clear, single ownership of each allocation and clearing pointers once they are freed.

General guidance for the double free class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 3.18, < 4.19.307>= 4.20, < 5.4.269>= 5.5, < 5.10.210>= 5.11, < 5.15.149>= 5.16, < 6.1.79>= 6.2, < 6.6.18>= 6.7, < 6.7.6= 6.8
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 10.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 4.19.307 / 5.4.269 / 5.10.210 or later
Fixed in 4.19.3075.4.2695.10.210
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel >= 4.19.307, >= 5.4.269, >= 5.10.210, or >= 5.15.149 (depending on your base version branch); Debian 11+

  1. 1. Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. 2. Check if the system is running an affected kernel version (< 4.19.307, < 5.4.269, < 5.10.210, or < 5.15.149)
  3. 3. For RHEL/CentOS and similar enterprise distributions: apply the vendor-provided kernel update when available, or upgrade to a newer major release
  4. 4. For Debian 10: upgrade to Debian 11 (Bullseye) or later which includes the fixed kernel version
  5. 5. For Ubuntu: upgrade to a kernel version >= 5.15.149 using HWE kernel or standard upgrade path
  6. 6. After kernel upgrade, reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  7. 7. Verify the fix by checking that ext4_move_extents() properly updates moved_len after each extent move (commit 185eab30486ba3e7bf8b9c2e049c79a06ffd2bc1 is applied)
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require matching system utilities and may have ABI changes; ensure application compatibility testing is performed before production deployment

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,950. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-26704 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-26704 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data