# CVE-2024-50042: ice: Fix increasing MSI-X on VF

> A local attacker with root privileges can trigger a slab-out-of-bounds read in the Intel ice driver by increasing MSI-X counts, potentially causing a system crash or code execution.

- **Severity:** High 7.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-50042, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-50042, GHSA-q7g6-f64x-77fj, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-50042

## What is CVE-2024-50042?

CVE-2024-50042 is a high-severity memory corruption 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:

ice: Fix increasing MSI-X on VF

Increasing MSI-X value on a VF leads to invalid memory operations. This
is caused by not reallocating some arrays.

Reproducer:
  modprobe ice
  echo 0 > /sys/bus/pci/devices/$PF_PCI/sriov_drivers_autoprobe
  echo 1 > /sys/bus/pci/devices/$PF_PCI/sriov_numvfs
  echo 17 > /sys/bus/pci/devices/$VF0_PCI/sriov_vf_msix_count

Default MSI-X is 16, so 17 and above triggers this issue.

KASAN reports:

  BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in ice_vsi_alloc_ring_stats+0x38d/0x4b0 [ice]
  Read of size 8 at addr ffff8888b937d180 by task bash/28433
  (...)

  Call Trace:
   (...)
   ? ice_vsi_alloc_ring_stats+0x38d/0x4b0 [ice]
   kasan_report+0xed/0x120
   ? ice_vsi_alloc_ring_stats+0x38d/0x4b0 [ice]
   ice_vsi_alloc_ring_stats+0x38d/0x4b0 [ice]
   ice_vsi_cfg_def+0x3360/0x4770 [ice]
   ? mutex_unlock+0x83/0xd0
   ? __pfx_ice_vsi_cfg_def+0x10/0x10 [ice]
   ? __pfx_ice_remove_vsi_lkup_fltr+0x10/0x10 [ice]
   ice_vsi_cfg+0x7f/0x3b0 [ice]
   ice_vf_reconfig_vsi+0x114/0x210 [ice]
   ice_sriov_set_msix_vec_count+0x3d0/0x960 [ice]
   sriov_vf_msix_count_store+0x21c/0x300
   (...)

  Allocated by task 28201:
   (...)
   ice_vsi_cfg_def+0x1c8e/0x4770 [ice]
   ice_vsi_cfg+0x7f/0x3b0 [ice]
   ice_vsi_setup+0x179/0xa30 [ice]
   ice_sriov_configure+0xcaa/0x1520 [ice]
   sriov_numvfs_store+0x212/0x390
   (...)

To fix it, use ice_vsi_rebuild() instead of ice_vf_reconfig_vsi(). This
causes the required arrays to be reallocated taking the new queue count
into account (ice_vsi_realloc_stat_arrays()). Set req_txq and req_rxq
before ice_vsi_rebuild(), so that realloc uses the newly set queue
count.

Additionally, ice_vsi_rebuild() does not remove VSI filters
(ice_fltr_remove_all()), so ice_vf_init_host_cfg() is no longer
necessary.

Weakness: CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-50042?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-50042?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-50042 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-50042 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-2024-50042 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-50042 is a high-severity memory corruption 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-2024-50042 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-2024-50042/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-50042/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-50042
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-50042
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-50042

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-50042/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.