# CVE-2024-42304: ext4: make sure the first directory block is not a hole

> A crafted ext4 filesystem with a hole in the first directory block can cause a kernel crash due to missing error handling.

- **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:** 17 Aug 2024
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-42304, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-42304, GHSA-v546-2fcj-rwvx, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-42304

## What is CVE-2024-42304?

CVE-2024-42304 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 17 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:

ext4: make sure the first directory block is not a hole

The syzbot constructs a directory that has no dirblock but is non-inline,
i.e. the first directory block is a hole. And no errors are reported when
creating files in this directory in the following flow.

    ext4_mknod
     ...
      ext4_add_entry
        // Read block 0
        ext4_read_dirblock(dir, block, DIRENT)
          bh = ext4_bread(NULL, inode, block, 0)
          if (!bh && (type == INDEX || type == DIRENT_HTREE))
          // The first directory block is a hole
          // But type == DIRENT, so no error is reported.

After that, we get a directory block without '.' and '..' but with a valid
dentry. This may cause some code that relies on dot or dotdot (such as
make_indexed_dir()) to crash.

Therefore when ext4_read_dirblock() finds that the first directory block
is a hole report that the filesystem is corrupted and return an error to
avoid loading corrupted data from disk causing something bad.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-42304?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-42304?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-42304 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-42304 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-2024-42304 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-42304 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 17 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-2024-42304 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-2024-42304/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-42304/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-42304
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-42304
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-42304

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-42304/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.