# CVE-2024-42251: mm: page_ref: remove folio_try_get_rcu()

> A bug in the Linux kernel's page reference handling causes a kernel panic, leading to a denial of service.

- **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:** 8 Aug 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-42251, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-42251, GHSA-p744-9p3j-x3vr, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-42251

## What is CVE-2024-42251?

CVE-2024-42251 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 8 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:

mm: page_ref: remove folio_try_get_rcu()

The below bug was reported on a non-SMP kernel:

[  275.267158][ T4335] ------------[ cut here ]------------
[  275.267949][ T4335] kernel BUG at include/linux/page_ref.h:275!
[  275.268526][ T4335] invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] KASAN PTI
[  275.269001][ T4335] CPU: 0 PID: 4335 Comm: trinity-c3 Not tainted 6.7.0-rc4-00061-gefa7df3e3bb5 #1
[  275.269787][ T4335] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.2-debian-1.16.2-1 04/01/2014
[  275.270679][ T4335] RIP: 0010:try_get_folio (include/linux/page_ref.h:275 (discriminator 3) mm/gup.c:79 (discriminator 3))
[  275.272813][ T4335] RSP: 0018:ffffc90005dcf650 EFLAGS: 00010202
[  275.273346][ T4335] RAX: 0000000000000246 RBX: ffffea00066e0000 RCX: 0000000000000000
[  275.274032][ T4335] RDX: fffff94000cdc007 RSI: 0000000000000004 RDI: ffffea00066e0034
[  275.274719][ T4335] RBP: ffffea00066e0000 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: fffff94000cdc006
[  275.275404][ T4335] R10: ffffea00066e0037 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: 0000000000000136
[  275.276106][ T4335] R13: ffffea00066e0034 R14: dffffc0000000000 R15: ffffea00066e0008
[  275.276790][ T4335] FS:  00007fa2f9b61740(0000) GS:ffffffff89d0d000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
[  275.277570][ T4335] CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
[  275.278143][ T4335] CR2: 00007fa2f6c00000 CR3: 0000000134b04000 CR4: 00000000000406f0
[  275.278833][ T4335] DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000
[  275.279521][ T4335] DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400
[  275.280201][ T4335] Call Trace:
[  275.280499][ T4335]  <TASK>
[ 275.280751][ T4335] ? die (arch/x86/kernel/dumpstack.c:421 arch/x86/kernel/dumpstack.c:434 arch/x86/kernel/dumpstack.c:447)
[ 275.281087][ T4335] ? do_trap (arch/x86/kernel/traps.c:112 arch/x86/kernel/traps.c:153)
[ 275.281463][ T4335] ? try_get_folio (include/linux/page_ref.h:275 (discriminator 3) mm/gup.c:79 (discriminator 3))
[ 275.281884][ T4335] ? try_get_folio (include/linux/page_ref.h:275 (discriminator 3) mm/gup.c:79 (discriminator 3))
[ 275.282300][ T4335] ? do_error_trap (arch/x86/kernel/traps.c:174)
[ 275.282711][ T4335] ? try_get_folio (include/linux/page_ref.h:275 (discriminator 3) mm/gup.c:79 (discriminator 3))
[ 275.283129][ T4335] ? handle_invalid_op (arch/x86/kernel/traps.c:212)
[ 275.283561][ T4335] ? try_get_folio (include/linux/page_ref.h:275 (discriminator 3) mm/gup.c:79 (discriminator 3))
[ 275.283990][ T4335] ? exc_invalid_op (arch/x86/kernel/traps.c:264)
[ 275.284415][ T4335] ? asm_exc_invalid_op (arch/x86/include/asm/idtentry.h:568)
[ 275.284859][ T4335] ? try_get_folio (include/linux/page_ref.h:275 (discriminator 3) mm/gup.c:79 (discriminator 3))
[ 275.285278][ T4335] try_grab_folio (mm/gup.c:148)
[ 275.285684][ T4335] __get_user_pages (mm/gup.c:1297 (discriminator 1))
[ 275.286111][ T4335] ? __pfx___get_user_pages (mm/gup.c:1188)
[ 275.286579][ T4335] ? __pfx_validate_chain (kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3825)
[ 275.287034][ T4335] ? mark_lock (kernel/locking/lockdep.c:4656 (discriminator 1))
[ 275.287416][ T4335] __gup_longterm_locked (mm/gup.c:1509 mm/gup.c:2209)
[ 275.288192][ T4335] ? __pfx___gup_longterm_locked (mm/gup.c:2204)
[ 275.288697][ T4335] ? __pfx_lock_acquire (kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5722)
[ 275.289135][ T4335] ? __pfx___might_resched (kernel/sched/core.c:10106)
[ 275.289595][ T4335] pin_user_pages_remote (mm/gup.c:3350)
[ 275.290041][ T4335] ? __pfx_pin_user_pages_remote (mm/gup.c:3350)
[ 275.290545][ T4335] ? find_held_lock (kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5244 (discriminator 1))
[ 275.290961][ T4335] ? mm_access (kernel/fork.c:1573)
[ 275.291353][ T4335] process_vm_rw_single_vec+0x142/0x360
[ 275.291900][ T4335] ? __pfx_process_vm_rw_single_vec+0x10/0x10
[ 275.292471][ T4335] ? mm_access (kernel/fork.c:1573)
[ 275.292859][ T4335] process_vm_rw_core+0x272/0x4e0
[ 275.293384][ T4335] ? hlock_class (a
---truncated---

Weakness: CWE-617 (Reachable Assertion)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-42251?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-42251?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-42251 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-42251 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-2024-42251 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-42251 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 8 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-2024-42251 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-2024-42251/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-42251/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-42251
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-42251
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-42251

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-42251/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
