CVE-2024-50169 vsock: Update rx_bytes on read_skb()

What is CVE-2024-50169?

CVE-2024-50169 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 7 Nov 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:

vsock: Update rx_bytes on read_skb()

Make sure virtio_transport_inc_rx_pkt() and virtio_transport_dec_rx_pkt() calls are balanced (i.e. virtio_vsock_sock::rx_bytes doesn't lie) after vsock_transport::read_skb().

While here, also inform the peer that we've freed up space and it has more credit.

Failing to update rx_bytes after packet is dequeued leads to a warning on SOCK_STREAM recv():

[ 233.396654] rx_queue is empty, but rx_bytes is non-zero [ 233.396702] WARNING: CPU: 11 PID: 40601 at net/vmw_vsock/virtio_transport_common.c:589

Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-50169?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2024-50169?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.

Is CVE-2024-50169 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-50169 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

• CVE-2026-53266 Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2013-6282 Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2022-0185 Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2013-2094 Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2026-53362 Linux Kernel Unspecified Exploited High 7.8

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as AZL-53450, BELL-CVE-2024-50169, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-50169, GHSA-p9j8-38hj-99w2, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-50169.