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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2024-42241

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-08-07
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.6.41 / 6.9.10 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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: mm/shmem: disable PMD-sized page cache if needed For shmem files, it's possible that PMD-sized page cache can't be supported by xarray. For example, 512MB page cache on ARM64 when the base page size is 64KB can't be supported by xarray. It leads to errors as the following messages indicate when this sort of xarray entry is split. WARNING: CPU: 34 PID: 7578 at lib/xarray.c:1025 xas_split_alloc+0xf8/0x128 Modules linked in: binfmt_misc nft_fib_inet nft_fib_ipv4 nft_fib_ipv6 \ nft_fib nft_reject_inet nf_reject_ipv4 nf_reject_ipv6 nft_reject \ nft_ct nft_chain_nat nf_nat nf_conntrack nf_defrag_ipv6 nf_defrag_ipv4 \ ip_set rfkill nf_tables nfnetlink vfat fat virtio_balloon drm fuse xfs \ libcrc32c crct10dif_ce ghash_ce sha2_ce sha256_arm64 sha1_ce virtio_net \ net_failover virtio_console virtio_blk failover dimlib virtio_mmio CPU: 34 PID: 7578 Comm: test Kdump: loaded Tainted: G W 6.10.0-rc5-gavin+ #9 Hardware name: QEMU KVM Virtual Machine, BIOS edk2-20240524-1.el9 05/24/2024 pstate: 83400005 (Nzcv daif +PAN -UAO +TCO +DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) pc : xas_split_alloc+0xf8/0x128 lr : split_huge_page_to_list_to_order+0x1c4/0x720 sp : ffff8000882af5f0 x29: ffff8000882af5f0 x28: ffff8000882af650 x27: ffff8000882af768 x26: 0000000000000cc0 x25: 000000000000000d x24: ffff00010625b858 x23: ffff8000882af650 x22: ffffffdfc0900000 x21: 0000000000000000 x20: 0000000000000000 x19: ffffffdfc0900000 x18: 0000000000000000 x17: 0000000000000000 x16: 0000018000000000 x15: 52f8004000000000 x14: 0000e00000000000 x13: 0000000000002000 x12: 0000000000000020 x11: 52f8000000000000 x10: 52f8e1c0ffff6000 x9 : ffffbeb9619a681c x8 : 0000000000000003 x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 : ffff00010b02ddb0 x5 : ffffbeb96395e378 x4 : 0000000000000000 x3 : 0000000000000cc0 x2 : 000000000000000d x1 : 000000000000000c x0 : 0000000000000000 Call trace: xas_split_alloc+0xf8/0x128 split_huge_page_to_list_to_order+0x1c4/0x720 truncate_inode_partial_folio+0xdc/0x160 shmem_undo_range+0x2bc/0x6a8 shmem_fallocate+0x134/0x430 vfs_fallocate+0x124/0x2e8 ksys_fallocate+0x4c/0xa0 __arm64_sys_fallocate+0x24/0x38 invoke_syscall.constprop.0+0x7c/0xd8 do_el0_svc+0xb4/0xd0 el0_svc+0x44/0x1d8 el0t_64_sync_handler+0x134/0x150 el0t_64_sync+0x17c/0x180 Fix it by disabling PMD-sized page cache when HPAGE_PMD_ORDER is larger than MAX_PAGECACHE_ORDER. As Matthew Wilcox pointed, the page cache in a shmem file isn't represented by a multi-index entry and doesn't have this limitation when the xarry entry is split until commit 6b24ca4a1a8d ("mm: Use multi-index entries in the page cache").

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-770

The application allocates memory, connections, or handles in response to a request without enforcing any cap, so a modest amount of malicious traffic exhausts the resource and denies service to everyone else. The fix is enforcing quotas, limits, and timeouts on what any single request or client can consume.

General guidance for the resource allocation without limits 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:>= 5.17, < 6.6.41>= 6.7, < 6.9.10

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 6.6.41 / 6.9.10 or later
Fixed in 6.6.416.9.10
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 6.6.41 or later (for 5.17-6.6.x branches); Linux Kernel 6.9.10 or later (for 6.7-6.9.x branches)

  1. Identify the current running kernel version using 'uname -r' or 'cat /proc/version'
  2. If running kernel version is >= 5.17 and < 6.6.41, upgrade to kernel version 6.6.41 or later (e.g., 6.6.x stable)
  3. If running kernel version is >= 6.7 and < 6.9.10, upgrade to kernel version 6.9.10 or later (e.g., 6.9.x stable)
  4. After upgrade, reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  5. Verify the fix by checking the kernel version and confirming the patch 'mm/shmem: disable PMD-sized page cache if needed' is included
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could have compatibility impacts with custom modules or drivers; ensure backups and test in non-production environment first

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 $1,600. Get the upgrade done

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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-2024-42241 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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