# CVE-2024-50265: ocfs2: remove entry once instead of null-ptr-dereference in ocfs2_xa_remove() > A local attacker can trigger a kernel null pointer dereference in the OCFS2 filesystem, causing a system crash and denial of service. - **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:** 19 Nov 2024 - **Updated:** 11 May 2026 - **Also known as:** AZL-53519, AZL-53769, BELL-CVE-2024-50265, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-50265, GHSA-grq5-97jg-xjfp, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-50265 ## What is CVE-2024-50265? CVE-2024-50265 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 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: ocfs2: remove entry once instead of null-ptr-dereference in ocfs2_xa_remove() Syzkaller is able to provoke null-ptr-dereference in ocfs2_xa_remove(): [ 57.319872] (a.out,1161,7):ocfs2_xa_remove:2028 ERROR: status = -12 [ 57.320420] (a.out,1161,7):ocfs2_xa_cleanup_value_truncate:1999 ERROR: Partial truncate while removing xattr overlay.upper. Leaking 1 clusters and removing the entry [ 57.321727] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000004 [...] [ 57.325727] RIP: 0010:ocfs2_xa_block_wipe_namevalue+0x2a/0xc0 [...] [ 57.331328] Call Trace: [ 57.331477] [...] [ 57.333511] ? do_user_addr_fault+0x3e5/0x740 [ 57.333778] ? exc_page_fault+0x70/0x170 [ 57.334016] ? asm_exc_page_fault+0x2b/0x30 [ 57.334263] ? __pfx_ocfs2_xa_block_wipe_namevalue+0x10/0x10 [ 57.334596] ? ocfs2_xa_block_wipe_namevalue+0x2a/0xc0 [ 57.334913] ocfs2_xa_remove_entry+0x23/0xc0 [ 57.335164] ocfs2_xa_set+0x704/0xcf0 [ 57.335381] ? _raw_spin_unlock+0x1a/0x40 [ 57.335620] ? ocfs2_inode_cache_unlock+0x16/0x20 [ 57.335915] ? trace_preempt_on+0x1e/0x70 [ 57.336153] ? start_this_handle+0x16c/0x500 [ 57.336410] ? preempt_count_sub+0x50/0x80 [ 57.336656] ? _raw_read_unlock+0x20/0x40 [ 57.336906] ? start_this_handle+0x16c/0x500 [ 57.337162] ocfs2_xattr_block_set+0xa6/0x1e0 [ 57.337424] __ocfs2_xattr_set_handle+0x1fd/0x5d0 [ 57.337706] ? ocfs2_start_trans+0x13d/0x290 [ 57.337971] ocfs2_xattr_set+0xb13/0xfb0 [ 57.338207] ? dput+0x46/0x1c0 [ 57.338393] ocfs2_xattr_trusted_set+0x28/0x30 [ 57.338665] ? ocfs2_xattr_trusted_set+0x28/0x30 [ 57.338948] __vfs_removexattr+0x92/0xc0 [ 57.339182] __vfs_removexattr_locked+0xd5/0x190 [ 57.339456] ? preempt_count_sub+0x50/0x80 [ 57.339705] vfs_removexattr+0x5f/0x100 [...] Reproducer uses faultinject facility to fail ocfs2_xa_remove() -> ocfs2_xa_value_truncate() with -ENOMEM. In this case the comment mentions that we can return 0 if ocfs2_xa_cleanup_value_truncate() is going to wipe the entry anyway. But the following 'rc' check is wrong and execution flow do 'ocfs2_xa_remove_entry(loc);' twice: * 1st: in ocfs2_xa_cleanup_value_truncate(); * 2nd: returning back to ocfs2_xa_remove() instead of going to 'out'. Fix this by skipping the 2nd removal of the same entry and making syzkaller repro happy. Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-50265? It affects 1 product. Products: Linux kernel. ## How do I fix CVE-2024-50265? Apply the vendor's patch. ## Is CVE-2024-50265 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-50265 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-2024-50265 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2024-50265 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 Nov 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-2024-50265 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-2024-50265/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-50265/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-50265 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-50265 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-50265 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-50265/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.