Cloudanix VulnDB

CVE-2024-49868

None

CVSS

—

EPSS

0.3%

Published

Oct 21, 2024

CISA due date

—

Cloudanix analysis

Schedule a fix SSVC: Track

A problem in handling file system reorganization under low memory can cause the entire computer to crash.

Exploitation
Local Privilege
Attacker needs
Local User
Complexity
Low
Impact
Denial Of Service
Component
OS kernel
Class
Memory Corruption
Remediation
Upgrade
Effort
Medium
Patch risk
Low

What it actually does

Null pointer dereference in btrfs_update_reloc_root() when fs_info->reloc_ctl is NULL after an allocation failure in start_transaction() during error handling in btrfs_balance() and reset_balance_state().

Why it matters to the business

Kernel crash or system instability during file system balance operations under memory pressure, with low exploitation likelihood and no immediate ransomware or widespread threat actor activity reported.

How an attack unfolds

An attacker with local access forces an allocation failure during prepare_to_relocate() via memory pressure or fault injection, triggering unset_reloc_control() to NULL the balance control structure; a concurrent subvolume update creates a reloc_root, and the subsequent commit_fs_roots() path in btrfs_commit_transaction() dereferences the NULL reloc_ctl without checking.

How to fix it

Apply the upstream kernel fix that adds an explicit fs_info->reloc_ctl NULL check inside btrfs_update_reloc_root() before accessing merge_reloc_tree; update to a kernel version containing the resolution for CVE-2024-49868.

How to confirm the fix worked

Confirm the patch is present by inspecting btrfs/relocation.c for the added reloc_ctl NULL guard; reproduce the original crash path with fault injection disabled and verify no dereference occurs during balance under allocation failure.

Typical attack path

  1. Trigger memory allocation failure at start_transaction() inside prepare_to_relocate()
  2. Error path calls unset_reloc_control() setting fs_info->reloc_ctl to NULL
  3. Subvolume tree update creates reloc_root between set and unset calls
  4. del_balance_item() invokes btrfs_commit_transaction() leading to btrfs_update_reloc_root()
  5. NULL dereference occurs when checking merge_reloc_tree without prior reloc_ctl validation

How to detect it

Inspect kernel logs for general protection faults or null-ptr-deref in btrfs_update_reloc_root, btrfs_commit_transaction, or reset_balance_state; correlate with Btrfs balance ioctl entries and allocation failure messages from fault injection or OOM conditions.

What your security team should do

  • Prioritize kernel updates on systems using Btrfs with frequent balance or relocation workloads
  • Monitor for low-memory conditions during file system maintenance operations
  • Review audit logs for unexpected btrfs_balance or ioctl failures indicating attempted exploitation

The record

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: fix a NULL pointer dereference when failed to start a new trasacntion [BUG] Syzbot reported a NULL pointer dereference with the following crash: FAULT_INJECTION: forcing a failure. start_transaction+0x830/0x1670 fs/btrfs/transaction.c:676 prepare_to_relocate+0x31f/0x4c0 fs/btrfs/relocation.c:3642 relocate_block_group+0x169/0xd20 fs/btrfs/relocation.c:3678 ... BTRFS info (device loop0): balance: ended with status: -12 Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc00000000cc: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN NOPTI KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000660-0x0000000000000667] RIP: 0010:btrfs_update_reloc_root+0x362/0xa80 fs/btrfs/relocation.c:926 Call Trace: <TASK> commit_fs_roots+0x2ee/0x720 fs/btrfs/transaction.c:1496 btrfs_commit_transaction+0xfaf/0x3740 fs/btrfs/transaction.c:2430 del_balance_item fs/btrfs/volumes.c:3678 [inline] reset_balance_state+0x25e/0x3c0 fs/btrfs/volumes.c:3742 btrfs_balance+0xead/0x10c0 fs/btrfs/volumes.c:4574 btrfs_ioctl_balance+0x493/0x7c0 fs/btrfs/ioctl.c:3673 vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline] __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:907 [inline] __se_sys_ioctl+0xf9/0x170 fs/ioctl.c:893 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xf3/0x230 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f [CAUSE] The allocation failure happens at the start_transaction() inside prepare_to_relocate(), and during the error handling we call unset_reloc_control(), which makes fs_info->balance_ctl to be NULL. Then we continue the error path cleanup in btrfs_balance() by calling reset_balance_state() which will call del_balance_item() to fully delete the balance item in the root tree. However during the small window between set_reloc_contrl() and unset_reloc_control(), we can have a subvolume tree update and created a reloc_root for that subvolume. Then we go into the final btrfs_commit_transaction() of del_balance_item(), and into btrfs_update_reloc_root() inside commit_fs_roots(). That function checks if fs_info->reloc_ctl is in the merge_reloc_tree stage, but since fs_info->reloc_ctl is NULL, it results a NULL pointer dereference. [FIX] Just add extra check on fs_info->reloc_ctl inside btrfs_update_reloc_root(), before checking fs_info->reloc_ctl->merge_reloc_tree. That DEAD_RELOC_TREE handling is to prevent further modification to the reloc tree during merge stage, but since there is no reloc_ctl at all, we do not need to bother that.

Affected packages

Ecosystem Package Introduced Fixed
Debian:11 linux 0 No fix
Debian:11 linux 0 5.10.234-1
Debian:11 linux-6.1 0 6.1.119-1~deb11u1
Debian:12 linux 0 No fix
Debian:13 linux 0 No fix
Debian:13 linux 0 6.11.4-1
Linux Kernel 0 5.4.285
Linux Kernel 2.6.35 5.4.285
Mageia:9 kernel 0 6.6.58-2.mga9
Mageia:9 kernel-firmware 0 20240909-1.mga9
Mageia:9 kernel-firmware-nonfree 0 20240909-1.mga9.nonfree
Mageia:9 kernel-linus 0 6.6.58-2.mga9
Mageia:9 kmod-virtualbox 0 7.0.20-57.mga9
Mageia:9 kmod-xtables-addons 0 3.24-65.mga9
Mageia:9 radeon-firmware 0 20240909-1.mga9.nonfree
SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 12 SP5 kernel-default 0 4.12.14-122.237.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP5 kernel-default 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.30.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 12 SP5 kernel-default 0 4.12.14-122.237.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 12 SP5 kgraft-patch-SLE12-SP5_Update_63 0 1-8.3.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP5 kernel-default 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP5 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP5-RT_Update_23 0 1-150500.11.3.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP5 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP5_Update_21 0 1-150500.11.5.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.30.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6-RT_Update_6 0 1-150600.1.3.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6_Update_6 0 1-150600.13.3.5
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 kernel-default 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 kernel-default-base 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1.150500.6.39.4
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 kernel-rt 0 5.14.21-150500.13.79.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 kernel-source-rt 0 5.14.21-150500.13.79.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5 kernel-64kb 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5 kernel-default 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5 kernel-default-base 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1.150500.6.39.4
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5 kernel-source 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5 kernel-zfcpdump 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-64kb 0 6.4.0-150600.23.30.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.30.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-default-base 0 6.4.0-150600.23.30.1.150600.12.12.6
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-source 0 6.4.0-150600.23.30.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-zfcpdump 0 6.4.0-150600.23.30.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Confidential Computing Technical Preview 15 SP6 kernel-coco 0 6.4.0-15061.9.coco15sp6.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Confidential Computing Technical Preview 15 SP6 kernel-coco_debug 0 6.4.0-15061.9.coco15sp6.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Confidential Computing Technical Preview 15 SP6 kernel-source-coco 0 6.4.0-15061.9.coco15sp6.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Confidential Computing Technical Preview 15 SP6 kernel-syms-coco 0 6.4.0-15061.9.coco15sp6.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP5 kernel-docs 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP5 kernel-obs-build 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP5 kernel-source 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP5 kernel-syms 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-docs 0 6.4.0-150600.23.30.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-obs-build 0 6.4.0-150600.23.30.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-source 0 6.4.0-150600.23.30.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-syms 0 6.4.0-150600.23.30.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Legacy 15 SP5 kernel-default 0 5.14.21-150500.55.88.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Legacy 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.30.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP5 kernel-azure 0 5.14.21-150500.33.75.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP5 kernel-source-azure 0 5.14.21-150500.33.75.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP5 kernel-syms-azure 0 5.14.21-150500.33.75.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 kernel-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.20.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 kernel-source-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.20.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 kernel-syms-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.20.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5-LTSS kernel-default 0 4.12.14-122.237.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5-LTSS kernel-source 0 4.12.14-122.237.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5-LTSS kernel-syms 0 4.12.14-122.237.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server LTSS Extended Security 12 SP5 kernel-default 0 4.12.14-122.237.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server LTSS Extended Security 12 SP5 kernel-source 0 4.12.14-122.237.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server LTSS Extended Security 12 SP5 kernel-syms 0 4.12.14-122.237.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.30.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP5 kernel-rt 0 5.14.21-150500.13.79.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP5 kernel-rt_debug 0 5.14.21-150500.13.79.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP5 kernel-source-rt 0 5.14.21-150500.13.79.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP5 kernel-syms-rt 0 5.14.21-150500.13.79.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.20.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-rt_debug 0 6.4.0-150600.10.20.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-source-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.20.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-syms-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.20.1
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS linux-hwe-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-aws-5.0 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-aws-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gke-4.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gke-5.4 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gkeop-5.4 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-hwe 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-hwe-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oem 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.0 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux 0 5.4.0-208.228
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws 0 5.4.0-1140.150
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.15 0 5.15.0-1073.79~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure 0 5.4.0-1145.152
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.15 0 5.15.0-1078.87~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-fde 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-fde-5.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-bluefield 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-bluefield 0 5.4.0-1099.106
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 5.4.0-1143.152
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.15 0 5.15.0-1072.80~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gke 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gke-5.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gkeop 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gkeop-5.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.15 0 5.15.0-127.137~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-ibm 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-ibm 0 5.4.0-1086.91
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-ibm-5.15 0 5.15.0-1066.69~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-intel-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-intel-iotg-5.15 0 5.15.0-1071.77~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-iot 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-iot 0 5.4.0-1048.51
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-kvm 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-kvm 0 5.4.0-1127.136
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15 0 5.15.0-127.137~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15 0 5.15.0-1032.32~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.10 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.14 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.6 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 5.4.0-1138.147
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.15 0 5.15.0-1071.77~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-raspi 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-raspi 0 5.4.0-1129.142
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-raspi2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.15 0 5.15.0-1069.73~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-xilinx-zynqmp 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-xilinx-zynqmp 0 5.4.0-1058.62
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux 0 5.15.0-127.137
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-allwinner-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws 0 5.15.0-1073.79
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-6.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-6.8 0 6.8.0-1023.25~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure 0 5.15.0-1078.87
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-6.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-6.8 0 6.8.0-1025.30~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fde 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fde-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fde-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 5.15.0-1072.80
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-6.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-6.8 0 6.8.0-1024.26~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gke 0 5.15.0-1070.76
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gkeop 0 5.15.0-1056.63
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-6.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-6.8 0 6.8.0-57.59~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-ibm 0 5.15.0-1066.69
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-ibm-6.8 0 6.8.0-1023.23~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-intel-iot-realtime 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-intel-iotg 0 5.15.0-1071.77
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-kvm 0 5.15.0-1070.75
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency 0 5.15.0-127.137
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 0 6.8.0-54.56.1~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia 0 5.15.0-1068.69
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.8 0 6.8.0-1022.25~22.04.2
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-tegra 0 5.15.0-1032.32

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