# CVE-2024-41078: btrfs: qgroup: fix quota root leak after quota disable failure

> A memory leak in the Linux kernel Btrfs filesystem can lead to resource exhaustion and denial of service when quota disabling fails.

- **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:** 29 Jul 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-41078, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-41078, GHSA-pw84-w4v5-39jj, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-41078

## What is CVE-2024-41078?

CVE-2024-41078 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 29 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: qgroup: fix quota root leak after quota disable failure

If during the quota disable we fail when cleaning the quota tree or when
deleting the root from the root tree, we jump to the 'out' label without
ever dropping the reference on the quota root, resulting in a leak of the
root since fs_info->quota_root is no longer pointing to the root (we have
set it to NULL just before those steps).

Fix this by always doing a btrfs_put_root() call under the 'out' label.
This is a problem that exists since qgroups were first added in 2012 by
commit bed92eae26cc ("Btrfs: qgroup implementation and prototypes"), but
back then we missed a kfree on the quota root and free_extent_buffer()
calls on its root and commit root nodes, since back then roots were not
yet reference counted.

Weakness: CWE-401 (Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-41078?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-41078?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-41078 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-41078 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-2024-41078 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-41078 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 29 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-2024-41078 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-2024-41078/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-41078/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-41078
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-41078
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-41078

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-41078/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.