Root-triggered service interruption via dirty-limit overflow
Published Jul 30, 2024 · Updated May 11, 2026
Integer overflow in affected Linux kernel releases allows local users with root privileges to interrupt service via dirty limits above 16 TB. The dirty-throttling logic in mm/page-writeback.c assumes PAGE_SIZE-unit limits fit in 32 bits, so oversized limits overflow 64-bit multiplications and can produce division by zero. Only root can set the triggering dirty_bytes or dirty_background_bytes values, and the documented consequence is kernel availability loss rather than data disclosure or modification.
Summary
What happened
Integer overflow in affected Linux kernel releases allows local users with root privileges to interrupt service via dirty limits above 16 TB. The dirty-throttling logic in mm/page-writeback.c assumes PAGE_SIZE-unit limits fit in 32 bits, so oversized limits overflow 64-bit multiplications and can produce division by zero. Only root can set the triggering dirty_bytes or dirty_background_bytes values, and the documented consequence is kernel availability loss rather than data disclosure or modification.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-42131
- Published
- Jul 30, 2024
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-190, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- admin
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jul 30, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=2.6.29
- Affected versionversion=2da02997e08d3efe8174c7a47696e6f7cbe69ba9 <2b2d2b8766db028bd827af34075f221ae9e9efff
- Affected versionversion=2da02997e08d3efe8174c7a47696e6f7cbe69ba9 <385d838df280eba6c8680f9777bfa0d0bfe7e8b2
- Affected versionversion=2da02997e08d3efe8174c7a47696e6f7cbe69ba9 <4d3817b64eda07491bdd86a234629fe0764fb42a
- Affected versionversion=2da02997e08d3efe8174c7a47696e6f7cbe69ba9 <7a49389771ae7666f4dc3426e2a4594bf23ae290
- Affected versionversion=2da02997e08d3efe8174c7a47696e6f7cbe69ba9 <8e0b5e7f2895eccef5c2a0018b589266f90c4805
- Affected versionversion=2da02997e08d3efe8174c7a47696e6f7cbe69ba9 <a25e8536184516b55ef89ab91dd2eea429de28d2
- Affected versionversion=2da02997e08d3efe8174c7a47696e6f7cbe69ba9 <bd16a7ee339aef3ee4c90cb23902afb6af379ea0
- Affected versionversion=2da02997e08d3efe8174c7a47696e6f7cbe69ba9 <c83ed422c24f0d4b264f89291d4fabe285f80dbc
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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