Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2024-49960

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-10-21
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.10.237 / 5.15.181 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 timer use-after-free on failed mount Syzbot has found an ODEBUG bug in ext4_fill_super The del_timer_sync function cancels the s_err_report timer, which reminds about filesystem errors daily. We should guarantee the timer is no longer active before kfree(sbi). When filesystem mounting fails, the flow goes to failed_mount3, where an error occurs when ext4_stop_mmpd is called, causing a read I/O failure. This triggers the ext4_handle_error function that ultimately re-arms the timer, leaving the s_err_report timer active before kfree(sbi) is called. Fix the issue by canceling the s_err_report timer after calling ext4_stop_mmpd.

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-416

Memory is used after it has been freed, so its contents — now potentially attacker-controlled — drive the program's behaviour. With careful heap grooming this becomes code execution. The fix requires disciplined ownership of memory and often a targeted rework of the object lifecycle.

General guidance for the use after 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
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 11.0
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:< 5.10.237>= 5.11, < 5.15.181>= 5.16, < 6.1.118>= 6.2, < 6.6.55>= 6.7, < 6.10.14>= 6.11, < 6.11.3

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 5.10.237 / 5.15.181 / 6.1.118 or later
Fixed in 5.10.2375.15.1816.1.118
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Kernel 5.10.237, 5.15.181, 6.1.118, or 6.6.55 (or later stable releases in each respective branch)

  1. Upgrade the Linux kernel to a version that includes the fix for this vulnerability. The specific kernel versions that contain the fix are: 5.10.237 or later for the 5.10.x branch, 5.15.181 or later for the 5.15.x branch, 6.1.118 or later for the 6.1.x branch, and 6.6.55 or later for the 6.6.x branch.
  2. After kernel upgrade, reboot the system to load the patched kernel.
  3. Verify the fix is applied by checking that the commit 0ce160c5bdb67081a62293028dc85758a8efb22a is included in the running kernel (or check your distribution's kernel version against the fixed versions above).
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could introduce compatibility issues with older drivers or modules; ensure backup 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 $3,200. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-49960 — 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-2024-49960 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