# CVE-2024-40962: btrfs: zoned: allocate dummy checksums for zoned NODATASUM writes

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel's btrfs zoned filesystem code can cause a system crash during specific write 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-2024-40962, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-40962, GHSA-hx58-3fx6-hp8m, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-40962

## What is CVE-2024-40962?

CVE-2024-40962 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:

btrfs: zoned: allocate dummy checksums for zoned NODATASUM writes

Shin'ichiro reported that when he's running fstests' test-case
btrfs/167 on emulated zoned devices, he's seeing the following NULL
pointer dereference in 'btrfs_zone_finish_endio()':

  Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000011: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN NOPTI
  KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000088-0x000000000000008f]
  CPU: 4 PID: 2332440 Comm: kworker/u80:15 Tainted: G        W          6.10.0-rc2-kts+ #4
  Hardware name: Supermicro Super Server/X11SPi-TF, BIOS 3.3 02/21/2020
  Workqueue: btrfs-endio-write btrfs_work_helper [btrfs]
  RIP: 0010:btrfs_zone_finish_endio.part.0+0x34/0x160 [btrfs]

  RSP: 0018:ffff88867f107a90 EFLAGS: 00010206
  RAX: dffffc0000000000 RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: ffffffff893e5534
  RDX: 0000000000000011 RSI: 0000000000000004 RDI: 0000000000000088
  RBP: 0000000000000002 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: ffffed1081696028
  R10: ffff88840b4b0143 R11: ffff88834dfff600 R12: ffff88840b4b0000
  R13: 0000000000020000 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: ffff888530ad5210
  FS:  0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff888e3f800000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
  CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
  CR2: 00007f87223fff38 CR3: 00000007a7c6a002 CR4: 00000000007706f0
  DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000
  DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400
  PKRU: 55555554
  Call Trace:
   <TASK>
   ? __die_body.cold+0x19/0x27
   ? die_addr+0x46/0x70
   ? exc_general_protection+0x14f/0x250
   ? asm_exc_general_protection+0x26/0x30
   ? do_raw_read_unlock+0x44/0x70
   ? btrfs_zone_finish_endio.part.0+0x34/0x160 [btrfs]
   btrfs_finish_one_ordered+0x5d9/0x19a0 [btrfs]
   ? __pfx_lock_release+0x10/0x10
   ? do_raw_write_lock+0x90/0x260
   ? __pfx_do_raw_write_lock+0x10/0x10
   ? __pfx_btrfs_finish_one_ordered+0x10/0x10 [btrfs]
   ? _raw_write_unlock+0x23/0x40
   ? btrfs_finish_ordered_zoned+0x5a9/0x850 [btrfs]
   ? lock_acquire+0x435/0x500
   btrfs_work_helper+0x1b1/0xa70 [btrfs]
   ? __schedule+0x10a8/0x60b0
   ? __pfx___might_resched+0x10/0x10
   process_one_work+0x862/0x1410
   ? __pfx_lock_acquire+0x10/0x10
   ? __pfx_process_one_work+0x10/0x10
   ? assign_work+0x16c/0x240
   worker_thread+0x5e6/0x1010
   ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10
   kthread+0x2c3/0x3a0
   ? trace_irq_enable.constprop.0+0xce/0x110
   ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10
   ret_from_fork+0x31/0x70
   ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10
   ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30
   </TASK>

Enabling CONFIG_BTRFS_ASSERT revealed the following assertion to
trigger:

  assertion failed: !list_empty(&ordered->list), in fs/btrfs/zoned.c:1815

This indicates, that we're missing the checksums list on the
ordered_extent. As btrfs/167 is doing a NOCOW write this is to be
expected.

Further analysis with drgn confirmed the assumption:

  >>> inode = prog.crashed_thread().stack_trace()[11]['ordered'].inode
  >>> btrfs_inode = drgn.container_of(inode, "struct btrfs_inode", \
         				"vfs_inode")
  >>> print(btrfs_inode.flags)
  (u32)1

As zoned emulation mode simulates conventional zones on regular devices,
we cannot use zone-append for writing. But we're only attaching dummy
checksums if we're doing a zone-append write.

So for NOCOW zoned data writes on conventional zones, also attach a
dummy checksum.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-40962?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-40962?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-40962 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-40962 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-2024-40962 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-40962 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-2024-40962 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-2024-40962/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-40962/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-40962
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-40962
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-40962

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-40962/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.