# CVE-2024-50271: signal: restore the override_rlimit logic

> A regression in Linux kernel signal handling causes crashes in applications like Java when resource limits are reached, requiring a patch to restore correct behavior.

- **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-53495, AZL-53787, BELL-CVE-2024-50271, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-50271, GHSA-328f-543x-9jvg, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2024-50271, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-50271

## What is CVE-2024-50271?

CVE-2024-50271 is a medium-severity denial of service 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:

signal: restore the override_rlimit logic

Prior to commit d64696905554 ("Reimplement RLIMIT_SIGPENDING on top of
ucounts") UCOUNT_RLIMIT_SIGPENDING rlimit was not enforced for a class of
signals.  However now it's enforced unconditionally, even if
override_rlimit is set.  This behavior change caused production issues.  

For example, if the limit is reached and a process receives a SIGSEGV
signal, sigqueue_alloc fails to allocate the necessary resources for the
signal delivery, preventing the signal from being delivered with siginfo. 
This prevents the process from correctly identifying the fault address and
handling the error.  From the user-space perspective, applications are
unaware that the limit has been reached and that the siginfo is
effectively 'corrupted'.  This can lead to unpredictable behavior and
crashes, as we observed with java applications.

Fix this by passing override_rlimit into inc_rlimit_get_ucounts() and skip
the comparison to max there if override_rlimit is set.  This effectively
restores the old behavior.

Weakness: CWE-770 (Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-50271?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-50271?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-50271 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-50271 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-2024-50271 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-50271 is a medium-severity denial of service 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-2024-50271 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-2024-50271/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-50271/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-50271
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-50271
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-50271

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-50271/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.