# CVE-2024-49870: cachefiles: fix dentry leak in cachefiles_open_file()

> A race condition in the Linux kernel cachefiles module causes a dentry leak, leading to a kernel warning and potential denial of service during unmount operations.

- **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:** 21 Oct 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-49870, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-49870, GHSA-rvgw-688x-x595, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2024-49870, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-49870

## What is CVE-2024-49870?

CVE-2024-49870 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 Oct 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: fix dentry leak in cachefiles_open_file()

A dentry leak may be caused when a lookup cookie and a cull are concurrent:

            P1             |             P2
-----------------------------------------------------------
cachefiles_lookup_cookie
  cachefiles_look_up_object
    lookup_one_positive_unlocked
     // get dentry
                            cachefiles_cull
                              inode->i_flags |= S_KERNEL_FILE;
    cachefiles_open_file
      cachefiles_mark_inode_in_use
        __cachefiles_mark_inode_in_use
          can_use = false
          if (!(inode->i_flags & S_KERNEL_FILE))
            can_use = true
	  return false
        return false
        // Returns an error but doesn't put dentry

After that the following WARNING will be triggered when the backend folder
is umounted:

==================================================================
BUG: Dentry 000000008ad87947{i=7a,n=Dx_1_1.img}  still in use (1) [unmount of ext4 sda]
WARNING: CPU: 4 PID: 359261 at fs/dcache.c:1767 umount_check+0x5d/0x70
CPU: 4 PID: 359261 Comm: umount Not tainted 6.6.0-dirty #25
RIP: 0010:umount_check+0x5d/0x70
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 d_walk+0xda/0x2b0
 do_one_tree+0x20/0x40
 shrink_dcache_for_umount+0x2c/0x90
 generic_shutdown_super+0x20/0x160
 kill_block_super+0x1a/0x40
 ext4_kill_sb+0x22/0x40
 deactivate_locked_super+0x35/0x80
 cleanup_mnt+0x104/0x160
==================================================================

Whether cachefiles_open_file() returns true or false, the reference count
obtained by lookup_positive_unlocked() in cachefiles_look_up_object()
should be released.

Therefore release that reference count in cachefiles_look_up_object() to
fix the above issue and simplify the code.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-49870?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-49870?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-49870 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-49870 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-2024-49870 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-49870 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 Oct 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-2024-49870 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-2024-49870/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-49870/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-49870
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-49870
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-49870

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-49870/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.