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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2024-50278

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-11-19
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.19.324 / 5.4.286 or later.
See remediation →
73/100
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: dm cache: fix potential out-of-bounds access on the first resume Out-of-bounds access occurs if the fast device is expanded unexpectedly before the first-time resume of the cache table. This happens because expanding the fast device requires reloading the cache table for cache_create to allocate new in-core data structures that fit the new size, and the check in cache_preresume is not performed during the first resume, leading to the issue. Reproduce steps: 1. prepare component devices: dmsetup create cmeta --table "0 8192 linear /dev/sdc 0" dmsetup create cdata --table "0 65536 linear /dev/sdc 8192" dmsetup create corig --table "0 524288 linear /dev/sdc 262144" dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mapper/cmeta bs=4k count=1 oflag=direct 2. load a cache table of 512 cache blocks, and deliberately expand the fast device before resuming the cache, making the in-core data structures inadequate. dmsetup create cache --notable dmsetup reload cache --table "0 524288 cache /dev/mapper/cmeta \ /dev/mapper/cdata /dev/mapper/corig 128 2 metadata2 writethrough smq 0" dmsetup reload cdata --table "0 131072 linear /dev/sdc 8192" dmsetup resume cdata dmsetup resume cache 3. suspend the cache to write out the in-core dirty bitset and hint array, leading to out-of-bounds access to the dirty bitset at offset 0x40: dmsetup suspend cache KASAN reports: BUG: KASAN: vmalloc-out-of-bounds in is_dirty_callback+0x2b/0x80 Read of size 8 at addr ffffc90000085040 by task dmsetup/90 (...snip...) The buggy address belongs to the virtual mapping at [ffffc90000085000, ffffc90000087000) created by: cache_ctr+0x176a/0x35f0 (...snip...) Memory state around the buggy address: ffffc90000084f00: f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 ffffc90000084f80: f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 >ffffc90000085000: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 ^ ffffc90000085080: f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 ffffc90000085100: f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 f8 Fix by checking the size change on the first resume.

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-125

The code reads past the end (or before the start) of a buffer, returning memory that was never meant to be exposed. Attackers use it to leak secrets like keys or to defeat memory-protection defences. Remediation is validating indices and lengths before every read.

General guidance for the out-of-bounds read 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:>= 3.13, < 4.19.324>= 4.20, < 5.4.286>= 5.5, < 5.10.230>= 5.11, < 5.15.172>= 5.16, < 6.1.117>= 6.2, < 6.6.61>= 6.7, < 6.11.8= 6.12

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 4.19.324 / 5.4.286 / 5.10.230 or later
Fixed in 4.19.3245.4.2865.10.230
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Linux kernel >=4.19.324 (4.19.x), >=5.4.286 (5.4.x), >=5.10.230 (5.10.x), or >=5.15.172 (5.15.x)

  1. 1. Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. 2. Determine which kernel version series you are running (e.g., 4.19.x, 5.4.x, 5.10.x, 5.15.x)
  3. 3. Upgrade the Linux kernel to a fixed version: for 4.19.x series upgrade to >=4.19.324, for 5.4.x series upgrade to >=5.4.286, for 5.10.x series upgrade to >=5.10.230, for 5.15.x series upgrade to >=5.15.172
  4. 4. For Ubuntu/Debian: run `sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade` or install specific kernel package
  5. 5. For RHEL/CentOS: run `sudo yum update kernel`
  6. 6. For SUSE: run `sudo zypper patch` or install kernel-default package
  7. 7. After kernel upgrade, reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  8. 8. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version (`uname -r`) and confirming it matches or exceeds the fixed versions above
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require driver/module compatibility checks; ensure dependent kernel modules are compatible with the new kernel version before rebooting

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

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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-2024-50278 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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