# CVE-2024-53111: mm/mremap: fix address wraparound in move_page_tables()

> Integer overflow in Linux kernel mremap causes data loss and potential denial of service on 32-bit systems.

- **Severity:** High 7.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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:** 2 Dec 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-53111, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-53111, GHSA-q56w-m7h5-j43f, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-53111

## What is CVE-2024-53111?

CVE-2024-53111 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 2 Dec 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:

mm/mremap: fix address wraparound in move_page_tables()

On 32-bit platforms, it is possible for the expression `len + old_addr <
old_end` to be false-positive if `len + old_addr` wraps around. 
`old_addr` is the cursor in the old range up to which page table entries
have been moved; so if the operation succeeded, `old_addr` is the *end* of
the old region, and adding `len` to it can wrap.

The overflow causes mremap() to mistakenly believe that PTEs have been
copied; the consequence is that mremap() bails out, but doesn't move the
PTEs back before the new VMA is unmapped, causing anonymous pages in the
region to be lost.  So basically if userspace tries to mremap() a
private-anon region and hits this bug, mremap() will return an error and
the private-anon region's contents appear to have been zeroed.

The idea of this check is that `old_end - len` is the original start
address, and writing the check that way also makes it easier to read; so
fix the check by rearranging the comparison accordingly.

(An alternate fix would be to refactor this function by introducing an
"orig_old_start" variable or such.)

Tested in a VM with a 32-bit X86 kernel; without the patch:

```
user@horn:~/big_mremap$ cat test.c
#define _GNU_SOURCE
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <err.h>
#include <sys/mman.h>

#define ADDR1 ((void*)0x60000000)
#define ADDR2 ((void*)0x10000000)
#define SIZE          0x50000000uL

int main(void) {
  unsigned char *p1 = mmap(ADDR1, SIZE, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE,
      MAP_ANONYMOUS|MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED_NOREPLACE, -1, 0);
  if (p1 == MAP_FAILED)
    err(1, "mmap 1");
  unsigned char *p2 = mmap(ADDR2, SIZE, PROT_NONE,
      MAP_ANONYMOUS|MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED_NOREPLACE, -1, 0);
  if (p2 == MAP_FAILED)
    err(1, "mmap 2");
  *p1 = 0x41;
  printf("first char is 0x%02hhx\n", *p1);
  unsigned char *p3 = mremap(p1, SIZE, SIZE,
      MREMAP_MAYMOVE|MREMAP_FIXED, p2);
  if (p3 == MAP_FAILED) {
    printf("mremap() failed; first char is 0x%02hhx\n", *p1);
  } else {
    printf("mremap() succeeded; first char is 0x%02hhx\n", *p3);
  }
}
user@horn:~/big_mremap$ gcc -static -o test test.c
user@horn:~/big_mremap$ setarch -R ./test
first char is 0x41
mremap() failed; first char is 0x00
```

With the patch:

```
user@horn:~/big_mremap$ setarch -R ./test
first char is 0x41
mremap() succeeded; first char is 0x41
```

Weakness: CWE-190 (Integer Overflow or Wraparound)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-53111?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-53111?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-53111 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-53111 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-2024-53111 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-53111 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 2 Dec 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-2024-53111 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-2024-53111/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-53111/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-53111
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-53111
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-53111

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-53111/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.