# CVE-2024-40952: ocfs2: fix NULL pointer dereference in ocfs2_journal_dirty() > A NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel's OCFS2 filesystem allows local attackers to cause a system crash via specific ioctl operations. - **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`) - **Exploited in the wild:** Not known - **Login needed:** Any signed-in user - **Attackable:** Local or same network only - **Victim action needed:** Not needed - **Fix available:** Yes - **Published:** 12 Jul 2024 - **Updated:** 11 May 2026 - **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-40952, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-40952, GHSA-pfpp-q6gh-6xmm, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-40952 ## What is CVE-2024-40952? CVE-2024-40952 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 12 Jul 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim. ### Official description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ocfs2: fix NULL pointer dereference in ocfs2_journal_dirty() bdev->bd_super has been removed and commit 8887b94d9322 change the usage from bdev->bd_super to b_assoc_map->host->i_sb. This introduces the following NULL pointer dereference in ocfs2_journal_dirty() since b_assoc_map is still not initialized. This can be easily reproduced by running xfstests generic/186, which simulate no more credits. [ 134.351592] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 ... [ 134.355341] RIP: 0010:ocfs2_journal_dirty+0x14f/0x160 [ocfs2] ... [ 134.365071] Call Trace: [ 134.365312] [ 134.365524] ? __die_body+0x1e/0x60 [ 134.365868] ? page_fault_oops+0x13d/0x4f0 [ 134.366265] ? __pfx_bit_wait_io+0x10/0x10 [ 134.366659] ? schedule+0x27/0xb0 [ 134.366981] ? exc_page_fault+0x6a/0x140 [ 134.367356] ? asm_exc_page_fault+0x26/0x30 [ 134.367762] ? ocfs2_journal_dirty+0x14f/0x160 [ocfs2] [ 134.368305] ? ocfs2_journal_dirty+0x13d/0x160 [ocfs2] [ 134.368837] ocfs2_create_new_meta_bhs.isra.51+0x139/0x2e0 [ocfs2] [ 134.369454] ocfs2_grow_tree+0x688/0x8a0 [ocfs2] [ 134.369927] ocfs2_split_and_insert.isra.67+0x35c/0x4a0 [ocfs2] [ 134.370521] ocfs2_split_extent+0x314/0x4d0 [ocfs2] [ 134.371019] ocfs2_change_extent_flag+0x174/0x410 [ocfs2] [ 134.371566] ocfs2_add_refcount_flag+0x3fa/0x630 [ocfs2] [ 134.372117] ocfs2_reflink_remap_extent+0x21b/0x4c0 [ocfs2] [ 134.372994] ? inode_update_timestamps+0x4a/0x120 [ 134.373692] ? __pfx_ocfs2_journal_access_di+0x10/0x10 [ocfs2] [ 134.374545] ? __pfx_ocfs2_journal_access_di+0x10/0x10 [ocfs2] [ 134.375393] ocfs2_reflink_remap_blocks+0xe4/0x4e0 [ocfs2] [ 134.376197] ocfs2_remap_file_range+0x1de/0x390 [ocfs2] [ 134.376971] ? security_file_permission+0x29/0x50 [ 134.377644] vfs_clone_file_range+0xfe/0x320 [ 134.378268] ioctl_file_clone+0x45/0xa0 [ 134.378853] do_vfs_ioctl+0x457/0x990 [ 134.379422] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x6e/0xd0 [ 134.379987] do_syscall_64+0x5d/0x170 [ 134.380550] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e [ 134.381231] RIP: 0033:0x7fa4926397cb [ 134.381786] Code: 73 01 c3 48 8b 0d bd 56 38 00 f7 d8 64 89 01 48 83 c8 ff c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 90 f3 0f 1e fa b8 10 00 00 00 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 8b 0d 8d 56 38 00 f7 d8 64 89 01 48 [ 134.383930] RSP: 002b:00007ffc2b39f7b8 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000010 [ 134.384854] RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000000000000004 RCX: 00007fa4926397cb [ 134.385734] RDX: 00007ffc2b39f7f0 RSI: 000000004020940d RDI: 0000000000000003 [ 134.386606] RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 00111a82a4f015bb R09: 00007fa494221000 [ 134.387476] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 0000000000000000 [ 134.388342] R13: 0000000000f10000 R14: 0000558e844e2ac8 R15: 0000000000f10000 [ 134.389207] Fix it by only aborting transaction and journal in ocfs2_journal_dirty() now, and leave ocfs2_abort() later when detecting an aborted handle, e.g. start next transaction. Also log the handle details in this case. Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-40952? It affects 1 product. Products: Linux kernel. ## How do I fix CVE-2024-40952? Apply the vendor's patch. ## Is CVE-2024-40952 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-40952 in the wild and no public exploit code. ## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel - [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild) ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2024-40952 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2024-40952 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 12 Jul 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim. Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-40952 in the wild and no public exploit code. Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page. Task: 1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies. 2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it. 3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead. 4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why. 5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing. Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-40952/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-40952/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-40952 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-40952 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-40952 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-40952/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.