# CVE-2024-49880: ext4: fix off by one issue in alloc_flex_gd()

> An off-by-one error in the ext4 filesystem resize logic can cause a kernel bug and system crash when resizing specific filesystem configurations.

- **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:** 21 Oct 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-49880, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-49880, GHSA-9r6q-3r52-hh42, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2024-49880, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-49880

## What is CVE-2024-49880?

CVE-2024-49880 is a high-severity 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:

ext4: fix off by one issue in alloc_flex_gd()

Wesley reported an issue:

==================================================================
EXT4-fs (dm-5): resizing filesystem from 7168 to 786432 blocks
------------[ cut here ]------------
kernel BUG at fs/ext4/resize.c:324!
CPU: 9 UID: 0 PID: 3576 Comm: resize2fs Not tainted 6.11.0+ #27
RIP: 0010:ext4_resize_fs+0x1212/0x12d0
Call Trace:
 __ext4_ioctl+0x4e0/0x1800
 ext4_ioctl+0x12/0x20
 __x64_sys_ioctl+0x99/0xd0
 x64_sys_call+0x1206/0x20d0
 do_syscall_64+0x72/0x110
 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e
==================================================================

While reviewing the patch, Honza found that when adjusting resize_bg in
alloc_flex_gd(), it was possible for flex_gd->resize_bg to be bigger than
flexbg_size.

The reproduction of the problem requires the following:

 o_group = flexbg_size * 2 * n;
 o_size = (o_group + 1) * group_size;
 n_group: [o_group + flexbg_size, o_group + flexbg_size * 2)
 o_size = (n_group + 1) * group_size;

Take n=0,flexbg_size=16 as an example:

              last:15
|o---------------|--------------n-|
o_group:0    resize to      n_group:30

The corresponding reproducer is:

img=test.img
rm -f $img
truncate -s 600M $img
mkfs.ext4 -F $img -b 1024 -G 16 8M
dev=`losetup -f --show $img`
mkdir -p /tmp/test
mount $dev /tmp/test
resize2fs $dev 248M

Delete the problematic plus 1 to fix the issue, and add a WARN_ON_ONCE()
to prevent the issue from happening again.

[ Note: another reproucer which this commit fixes is:

  img=test.img
  rm -f $img
  truncate -s 25MiB $img
  mkfs.ext4 -b 4096 -E nodiscard,lazy_itable_init=0,lazy_journal_init=0 $img
  truncate -s 3GiB $img
  dev=`losetup -f --show $img`
  mkdir -p /tmp/test
  mount $dev /tmp/test
  resize2fs $dev 3G
  umount $dev
  losetup -d $dev

  -- TYT ]

Weakness: CWE-193 (Off-by-one Error)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-49880?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-49880?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-49880 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-49880 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-2024-49880 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-49880 is a high-severity 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-2024-49880 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-2024-49880/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-49880/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-49880
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-49880
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-49880

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-49880/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.