CVE-2024-42231: linux kernel vulnerability

What is known

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: zoned: fix calc_available_free_space() for zoned mode calc_available_free_space() returns the total size of metadata (or system) block groups, which can be allocated from unallocated disk space. The logic is wrong on zoned mode in two places. First, the calculation of data_chunk_size is wrong. We always allocate one zone as one chunk, and no partial allocation of a zone. So, we should use zone_size (= data_sinfo->chunk_size) as it is. Second, the result "avail" may not be zone aligned. Since we always allocate one zone as one chunk on zoned mode, returning non-zone size aligned bytes will result in less pressure on the async metadata reclaim process. This is serious for the nearly full state with a large zone size device. Allowing over-commit too much will result in less async reclaim work and end up in ENOSPC. We can align down to the zone size to avoid that.

Business impact

Successful exploitation of CVE-2024-42231, a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.5) affecting linux kernel, may affect the confidentiality, integrity or availability of the vulnerable environment. The exact impact depends on the installed version, exposed interfaces and deployment configuration.

Recommended administrator action

Confirm whether linux kernel is present and compare installed versions with the vendor advisory and NVD record. Apply the vendor patch or documented mitigation; until remediation is complete, reduce exposure of affected interfaces, review relevant logs and monitor for indicators of exploitation. DataHouse can support version verification, managed patching, network exposure reduction, log review and backup validation for dedicated, cloud and colocated environments.

Sources

• NVD
• Reference
• Reference