CVE Intelligence
Medium Denial of service

CVE-2024-42241 — mm/shmem: disable PMD-sized page cache if needed

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/shmem: disable PMD-sized page cache if needed For shmem files, it's possible that PMD-sized page cache can't be supported by xarray. For example, 512MB page cache on ARM64 when the base page size is 64KB can't be supported by xarray. It leads to errors as the following messages indicate when this sort of xarray entry is split. WARNING: CPU: 34 PID: 7578 at lib/xarray.c:1025 xas_split_alloc+0xf8/0x128 Modules linked in: binfmt_misc nft_fib_inet nft_fib_ipv4 nft_fib_ipv6 \ nft_fib nft_reject_inet nf_reject_ipv4 nf_reject_ipv6 nft_reject \ nft_ct nft_chain_nat nf_nat nf_conntrack nf_defrag_ipv6 nf_defrag_ipv4 \ ip_set rfkill nf_tables nfnetlink vfat fat virtio_balloon drm fuse xfs \ libcrc32c crct10dif_ce ghash_ce sha2_ce sha256_arm64 sha1_ce virtio_net \ net_failover virtio_console virtio_blk failover dimlib virtio_mmio CPU: 34 PID: 7578 Comm: test Kdump: loaded Tainted: G W 6.10.0-rc5-gavin+ #9 Hardware name: QEMU KVM Virtual Machine, BIOS edk2-20240524-1.el9 05/24/2024 pstate: 83400005 (Nzcv daif +PAN -UAO +TCO +DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) pc : xas_split_alloc+0xf8/0x128 lr : split_huge_page_to_list_to_order+0x1c4/0x720 sp : ffff8000882af5f0 x29: ffff8000882af5f0 x28: ffff8000882af650 x27: ffff8000882af768 x26: 0000000000000cc0 x25: 000000000000000d x24: ffff00010625b858 x23: ffff8000882af650 x22: ffffffdfc0900000 x21: 0000000000000000 x20: 0000000000000000 x19: ffffffdfc0900000 x18: 0000000000000000 x17: 0000000000000000 x16: 0000018000000000 x15: 52f8004000000000 x14: 0000e00000000000 x13: 0000000000002000 x12: 0000000000000020 x11: 52f8000000000000 x10: 52f8e1c0ffff6000 x9 : ffffbeb9619a681c x8 : 0000000000000003 x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 : ffff00010b02ddb0 x5 : ffffbeb96395e378 x4 : 0000000000000000 x3 : 0000000000000cc0 x2 : 000000000000000d x1 : 000000000000000c x0 : 0000000000000000 Call trace: xas_split_alloc+0xf8/0x128 split_huge_page_to_list_to_order+0x1c4/0x720 truncate_inode_partial_folio+0xdc/0x160 shmem_undo_range+0x2bc/0x6a8 shmem_fallocate+0x134/0x430 vfs_fallocate+0x124/0x2e8 ksys_fallocate+0x4c/0xa0 __arm64_sys_fallocate+0x24/0x38 invoke_syscall.constprop.0+0x7c/0xd8 do_el0_svc+0xb4/0xd0 el0_svc+0x44/0x1d8 el0t_64_sync_handler+0x134/0x150 el0t_64_sync+0x17c/0x180 Fix it by disabling PMD-sized page cache when HPAGE_PMD_ORDER is larger than MAX_PAGECACHE_ORDER. As Matthew Wilcox pointed, the page cache in a shmem file isn't represented by a multi-index entry and doesn't have this limitation when the xarry entry is split until commit 6b24ca4a1a8d ("mm: Use multi-index entries in the page cache").

Published Aug 7, 2024 · Updated Oct 30, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP, GitHub Security Advisories · CNA: Linux

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.
How the score was calculated
  • EPSS 0.2% (30-day exploitation probability)+2
  • Technical severity (medium)+3

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation
Not confirmed
Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.
EPSS FIRST
0.21%
ahead of 11% of scored CVEs · Oct 29, 2026
Affects
Linux
Linux and 1 more
CVSS base
5.5
Medium · 2 source(s)

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation
None
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
No
can an attacker script the kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Partial
partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Linux Linux, Linux Linux Kernel).
  2. Apply the fixed version or the patch documented under Remediation.
  3. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (denial of service), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Linux Linux ≥ 6b24ca4a1a8d4ee3221d6d44ddbb99f542e4bda3 and < e991bfc6b69e3db6bdefde34f5d5c9686a192e8f≥ 6b24ca4a1a8d4ee3221d6d44ddbb99f542e4bda3 and < 93893eacb372b0a4a30f7de6609b08c3ba6c4fd9≥ 6b24ca4a1a8d4ee3221d6d44ddbb99f542e4bda3 and < cd25208ca9b0097f8e079d692fc678f36fdbc3f9≥ 6b24ca4a1a8d4ee3221d6d44ddbb99f542e4bda3 and < 9fd154ba926b34c833b7bfc4c14ee2e931b3d743version 5.17 Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Linux Linux Kernel ≥ 5.17 and < 6.6.41≥ 6.7 and < 6.9.10 Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
5.5 CVSS 3.1 Medium 1.8 3.6 nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database
5.5 CVSS 3.1 Medium — — GitHub, Inc. via GitHub Security Advisories
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H (score shown at the top: nvd@nist.gov)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-770 · Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling

Other CVEs with this weakness →

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Local/physical vector: focus on endpoint telemetry (EDR) from affected hosts.
  • Track CPU/memory spikes and availability drops correlated with request patterns.
endpoint telemetry (EDR)resource metrics

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • Affected products added · linux/linux
    Oct 30, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • SSVC assessment updated
    Oct 30, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 30, 2026
  • Fix documented
    Oct 30, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Affected products added · linux/linux kernel
    Oct 30, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVSS changed · 5.5
    Oct 30, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Modified
    Oct 30, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 30, 2026 · Alertas do Telegram
  • 2024
  • CVE published
    Aug 7, 2024 · Linux

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 2× References added · Oct 30, 2026 – Oct 30, 2026
  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 30, 2026 – Oct 30, 2026

References

6 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Linux
every CVE for this vendor
Denial of service
same class
CWE-770
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-99216 Drivers: hv: Don't reset VMBus connection state on error/exit paths 2d
  • CVE-2026-99215 power: supply: core: prevent unregistering a power supply while a callback runs 2d
  • CVE-2026-99207 scsi: target: Disable interrupts while holding delayed_cmd_lock 2d
  • CVE-2026-99208 drm/xe/oa: Zero OA buffer at allocation 2d
  • CVE-2026-99209 drm/xe: skip eviction of a BO with no resource 2d
  • CVE-2026-99210 accel/rocket: clear rdev on device init failure 2d

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2024-42241 is "mm/shmem: disable PMD-sized page cache if needed", rated Medium. It affects Linux (Linux); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 5.5 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.21% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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