ext4: check dot and dotdot of dx_root before making dir indexed
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 5 fixed, 4 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-125 and the CVSS impact.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: check dot and dotdot of dx_root before making dir indexed Syzbot reports a issue as follows: ============================================ BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: ffffed11022e24fe PGD 23ffee067 P4D 23ffee067 PUD 0 Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN PTI CPU: 0 PID: 5079 Comm: syz-executor306 Not tainted 6.10.0-rc5-g55027e689933 #0 Call Trace: <TASK> make_indexed_dir+0xdaf/0x13c0 fs/ext4/namei.c:2341 ext4_add_entry+0x222a/0x25d0 fs/ext4/namei.c:2451 ext4_rename fs/ext4/namei.c:3936 [inline] ext4_rename2+0x26e5/0x4370 fs/ext4/namei.c:4214 [...] ============================================ The immediate cause of this problem is that there is only one valid dentry for the block to be split during do_split, so split==0 results in out of bounds accesses to the map triggering the issue. do_split unsigned split dx_make_map count = 1 split = count/2 = 0; continued = hash2 == map[split - 1].hash; ---> map[4294967295] The maximum length of a filename is 255 and the minimum block size is 1024, so it is always guaranteed that the number of entries is greater than or equal to 2 when do_split() is called. But syzbot's crafted image has no dot and dotdot in dir, and the dentry distribution in dirblock is as follows: bus dentry1 hole dentry2 free |xx--|xx-------------|...............|xx-------------|...............| 0 12 (8+248)=256 268 256 524 (8+256)=264 788 236 1024 So when renaming dentry1 increases its name_len length by 1, neither hole nor free is sufficient to hold the new dentry, and make_indexed_dir() is called. In make_indexed_dir() it is assumed that the first two entries of the dirblock must be dot and dotdot, so bus and dentry1 are left in dx_root because they are treated as dot and dotdot, and only dentry2 is moved to the new leaf block. That's why count is equal to 1. Therefore add the ext4_check_dx_root() helper function to add more sanity checks to dot and dotdot before starting the conversion to avoid the above issue.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 2.6.19 and later | 4.19.320, 5.4.282, 5.10.224, 5.15.165, 6.1.103, 6.6.44, 6.10.3, 6.11 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 2.6.19 and later Fixed in 4.19.320, 5.4.282, 5.10.224, 5.15.165, 6.1.103, 6.6.44, 6.10.3, 6.11 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 7
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 2.6.20 to before 4.19.320; 4.20 to before 5.4.282; 5.5 to before 5.10.224; 5.11 to before 5.15.165; 5.16 to before 6.1.103; 6.2 to before 6.6.44; 6.7 to before 6.10.3 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.19:-:*:*:*:*:*:* | 2.6.19 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.19:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* | 2.6.19 rc2 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.19:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* | 2.6.19 rc3 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.19:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* | 2.6.19 rc4 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.19:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* | 2.6.19 rc5 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.19:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:* | 2.6.19 rc6 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 2.6.20 to before 4.19.320; 4.20 to before 5.4.282; 5.5 to before 5.10.224; 5.11 to before 5.15.165; 5.16 to before 6.1.103; 6.2 to before 6.6.44; 6.7 to before 6.10.3 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.19:-:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 2.6.19 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.19:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 2.6.19 rc2 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.19:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 2.6.19 rc3 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.19:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 2.6.19 rc4 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.19:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 2.6.19 rc5 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.19:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 2.6.19 rc6 Vulnerable ·Linux
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 4.19.320, 5.4.282, 5.10.224, 5.15.165, 6.1.103, 6.6.44, 6.10.3, 6.11
Red Hat 1 advisory
- RHSA-2025:6966 Released 2025-05-13 · Red Hat rating Moderatekernel security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) kernel-64k-debug-devel-5.14.0-570.12.1.el9_6, kernel-64k-debug-devel-matched-5.14.0-570.12.1.el9_6, kernel-64k-devel-5.14.0-570.12.1.el9_6 +12
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) kernel-5.14.0-570.12.1.el9_6, kernel-64k-5.14.0-570.12.1.el9_6, kernel-64k-core-5.14.0-570.12.1.el9_6 +28
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) kernel-tools-libs-devel-5.14.0-570.12.1.el9_6, libperf-5.14.0-570.12.1.el9_6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 9) kernel-rt-5.14.0-570.12.1.el9_6, kernel-rt-64k-5.14.0-570.12.1.el9_6, kernel-rt-64k-core-5.14.0-570.12.1.el9_6 +21
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 9) kernel-rt-5.14.0-570.12.1.el9_6, kernel-rt-core-5.14.0-570.12.1.el9_6, kernel-rt-debug-5.14.0-570.12.1.el9_6 +11
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2025:6966 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2025:6966 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2025:6966 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2025:6966 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2025:6966 |
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2024-42305
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-46jx-3cg2-9964
- 2026-10-29 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
Patch 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b80575ffa98b5bb3a5d4d392bfe4c2e03e9557db
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/19e13b4d7f0303186fcc891aba8d0de7c8fdbda8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/42d420517072028fb0eb852c358056b7717ba5aa
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8afe06ed3be7a874b3cd82ef5f8959aca8d6429a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/abb411ac991810c0bcbe51c2e76d2502bf611b5c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9d241b7a39af192d1bb422714a458982c7cc67a2
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cdd345321699042ece4a9d2e70754d2397d378c5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/50ea741def587a64e08879ce6c6a30131f7111e7
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- TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
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- TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
Sources
- CVE-2024-42305 · CVE Program
- CVE-2024-42305 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-46jx-3cg2-9964 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2024-42305 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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