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Grub2Application · Gnu

CVE-2024-45779

MEDIUM · 6.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-03-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.12 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click

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
An integer overflow flaw was found in the BFS file system driver in grub2. When reading a file with an indirect extent map, grub2 fails to validate the number of extent entries to be read. A crafted or corrupted BFS filesystem may cause an integer overflow during the file reading, leading to a heap of bounds read. As a consequence, sensitive data may be leaked, or grub2 will crash.

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 · moderate confidence

An integer overflow vulnerability exists in the BFS file system driver in GRUB2. When reading a file containing an indirect extent map, the driver fails to properly validate the number of extent entries to be read. This causes an integer overflow during the calculation of buffer size, leading to a heap out-of-bounds read. A crafted or corrupted BFS filesystem can exploit this to leak sensitive data from memory or cause GRUB2 to crash.

MitigationApply the vendor patch for CVE-2024-45779 to GRUB2, rebuild the bootloader, and re-sign for secure boot compatibility. Organizations should also verify that their systems are not using vulnerable GRUB2 versions on UEFI secure boot platforms.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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
Grub2Application
Affected:<= 2.12

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
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
High

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify GRUB2 version
    Run 'grub2-install --version' or check the grub2 package version with your distro's package manager (e.g., 'rpm -q grub2' or 'dpkg -l grub-pc')
    Affected if The installed version is 2.12 or lower, indicating the vulnerability is present in the GRUB2 installation on this system
  2. Locate GRUB2 modules directory
    Check the boot partition for the grub/i386-pc or grub/x86_64-efi directory containing .mod files, typically at /boot/grub2/ or /boot/efi/EFI/distro/
    Affected if GRUB2 modules are present, meaning the BFS driver module could be loaded if configured
  3. Verify BFS driver module presence
    List files in the GRUB2 modules directory and search for a file named 'bfscrypt' or similar BFS-related module (e.g., 'ls /boot/grub2/*/ | grep -i bfs')
    Affected if A BFS filesystem driver module exists in the GRUB2 modules directory, indicating the driver could be loaded and the vulnerable code path could be triggered
  4. Check for BFS filesystem usage
    Scan mounted filesystems and disk partitions for BFS filesystem type using 'mount' output or 'fdisk -l' combined with filesystem detection tools
    Affected if Any mounted or present partitions use the BFS filesystem, which would trigger the vulnerable driver code when accessed by GRUB2 at boot

A system is affected if it runs GRUB2 version 2.12 or lower, has the BFS filesystem driver module available, and boots from or accesses a BFS-formatted filesystem.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 a release after 2.12
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor patch for CVE-2024-45779 to GRUB2, rebuild the bootloader, and re-sign for secure boot compatibility. Organizations should also verify that their systems are not using vulnerable GRUB2 versions on UEFI secure boot platforms.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Grub2 version 2.13 or later

  1. Identify the current Grub2 version installed on your system using your distribution's package manager (e.g., `rpm -q grub2` or `dpkg -l | grep grub2`)
  2. Download or upgrade to Grub2 version 2.13 or later from your distribution's official repositories
  3. If building from source, obtain Grub2 source code from https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/grub.git and ensure the version is >= 2.13
  4. Regenerate the Grub configuration file (e.g., `grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg` on RHEL-based systems or `update-grub` on Debian-based systems)
  5. Reboot the system to load the updated Grub2 bootloader
  6. Verify the new Grub2 version is loaded at boot time
Caveat Grub2 upgrades typically maintain backward compatibility with existing configurations; however, custom module configurations or very old hardware may require testing in a non-production environment first

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

Fix this in Grub2 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2024-45779 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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