nilfs2: fix potential deadlock with newly created symlinks
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
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-667 and the CVSS impact.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nilfs2: fix potential deadlock with newly created symlinks Syzbot reported that page_symlink(), called by nilfs_symlink(), triggers memory reclamation involving the filesystem layer, which can result in circular lock dependencies among the reader/writer semaphore nilfs->ns_segctor_sem, s_writers percpu_rwsem (intwrite) and the fs_reclaim pseudo lock. This is because after commit 21fc61c73c39 ("don't put symlink bodies in pagecache into highmem"), the gfp flags of the page cache for symbolic links are overwritten to GFP_KERNEL via inode_nohighmem(). This is not a problem for symlinks read from the backing device, because the __GFP_FS flag is dropped after inode_nohighmem() is called. However, when a new symlink is created with nilfs_symlink(), the gfp flags remain overwritten to GFP_KERNEL. Then, memory allocation called from page_symlink() etc. triggers memory reclamation including the FS layer, which may call nilfs_evict_inode() or nilfs_dirty_inode(). And these can cause a deadlock if they are called while nilfs->ns_segctor_sem is held: Fix this issue by dropping the __GFP_FS flag from the page cache GFP flags of newly created symlinks in the same way that nilfs_new_inode() and __nilfs_read_inode() do, as a workaround until we adopt nofs allocation scope consistently or improve the locking constraints.
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 | 4.4.116 to before 4.5 | 4.5 | Patch available | CNA |
| Linux | Linux | 4.5 and later | 4.19.323, 5.4.285, 5.10.229, 5.15.171, 6.1.116, 6.6.60, 6.11.7, 6.12 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 4.4.116 to before 4.5 Fixed in 4.5 Patch available CNA
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 4.5 and later Fixed in 4.19.323, 5.4.285, 5.10.229, 5.15.171, 6.1.116, 6.6.60, 6.11.7, 6.12 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 7
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 4.5 to before 4.19.323; 4.20 to before 5.4.285; 5.5 to before 5.10.229; 5.11 to before 5.15.171; 5.16 to before 6.1.116; 6.2 to before 6.6.60; 6.7 to before 6.11.7 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:4.4.116:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 4.4.116 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.12:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.12 rc1 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.12:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.12 rc2 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.12:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.12 rc3 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.12:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.12 rc4 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.12:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.12 rc5 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 4.5 to before 4.19.323; 4.20 to before 5.4.285; 5.5 to before 5.10.229; 5.11 to before 5.15.171; 5.16 to before 6.1.116; 6.2 to before 6.6.60; 6.7 to before 6.11.7 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:4.4.116:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 4.4.116 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.12:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.12 rc1 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.12:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.12 rc2 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.12:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.12 rc3 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.12:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.12 rc4 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.12:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.12 rc5 Vulnerable ·Linux
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 4.5
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 4.19.323, 5.4.285, 5.10.229, 5.15.171, 6.1.116, 6.6.60, 6.11.7, 6.12
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
Not affected: 4 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2024-50229
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-7h5p-3h8w-5629
References
Patch 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cc38c596e648575ce58bfc31623a6506eda4b94a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a1686db1e59f8fc016c4c9361e2119dd206f479a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c72e0df0b56c1166736dc8eb62070ebb12591447
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/69548bb663fcb63f9ee0301be808a36b9d78dac3
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/58c7f44c7b9e5ac7e3b1e5da2572ed7767a12f38
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1246d86e7bbde265761932c6e2dce28c69cdcb91
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9aa5d43ac4cace8fb9bd964ff6c23f599dc3cd24
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b3a033e3ecd3471248d474ef263aadc0059e516a
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Sources
- CVE-2024-50229 · CVE Program
- CVE-2024-50229 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-7h5p-3h8w-5629 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2024-50229 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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