# CVE-2024-42102: Revert "mm/writeback: fix possible divide-by-zero in wb_dirty_limits(), again"

> An integer overflow in Linux kernel dirty throttling logic can cause a divide-by-zero error, leading to a system crash or denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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:** 30 Jul 2024
- **Updated:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-47934, BELL-CVE-2024-42102, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-42102, GHSA-3cf4-3gwv-8jwp, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-42102

## What is CVE-2024-42102?

CVE-2024-42102 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 30 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:

Revert "mm/writeback: fix possible divide-by-zero in wb_dirty_limits(), again"

Patch series "mm: Avoid possible overflows in dirty throttling".

Dirty throttling logic assumes dirty limits in page units fit into
32-bits.  This patch series makes sure this is true (see patch 2/2 for
more details).

This patch (of 2):

This reverts commit 9319b647902cbd5cc884ac08a8a6d54ce111fc78.

The commit is broken in several ways.  Firstly, the removed (u64) cast
from the multiplication will introduce a multiplication overflow on 32-bit
archs if wb_thresh * bg_thresh >= 1<<32 (which is actually common - the
default settings with 4GB of RAM will trigger this).  Secondly, the
div64_u64() is unnecessarily expensive on 32-bit archs.  We have
div64_ul() in case we want to be safe & cheap.  Thirdly, if dirty
thresholds are larger than 1<<32 pages, then dirty balancing is going to
blow up in many other spectacular ways anyway so trying to fix one
possible overflow is just moot.

Weakness: CWE-369 (Divide By Zero)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-42102?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-42102?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-42102 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-42102 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-2024-42102 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-42102 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 30 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-2024-42102 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-2024-42102/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-42102/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-42102
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-42102
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-42102

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-42102/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.