# CVE-2024-42250: cachefiles: add missing lock protection when polling

> A race condition in the Linux kernel cachefiles module can lead to a denial of service due to missing lock protection during polling.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-42250, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-42250, GHSA-w52v-vrvm-954m, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-42250

## What is CVE-2024-42250?

CVE-2024-42250 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 7 Aug 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:

cachefiles: add missing lock protection when polling

Add missing lock protection in poll routine when iterating xarray,
otherwise:

Even with RCU read lock held, only the slot of the radix tree is
ensured to be pinned there, while the data structure (e.g. struct
cachefiles_req) stored in the slot has no such guarantee.  The poll
routine will iterate the radix tree and dereference cachefiles_req
accordingly.  Thus RCU read lock is not adequate in this case and
spinlock is needed here.

Weakness: CWE-667 (Improper Locking)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-42250?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-42250?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-42250 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-42250 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-2024-42250 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-42250 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 7 Aug 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-2024-42250 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-2024-42250/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-42250/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-42250
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-42250
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-42250

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-42250/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.