CVE-2024-42131

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2024-42131?

CVE-2024-42131 has a CVSS score of 4.4 (MEDIUM). This CVE-2024-42131 is an integer overflow vulnerability in the Linux kernel's dirty page throttling logic that could lead to kernel instability or crashes. It affects Linux systems where administrators set extremely high dirty memory limits (>16 TB). Only root users can trigger this vulnerability by configuring these limits.

4.4 MEDIUM

Denial of Service

📋 TL;DR

This CVE-2024-42131 is an integer overflow vulnerability in the Linux kernel's dirty page throttling logic that could lead to kernel instability or crashes. It affects Linux systems where administrators set extremely high dirty memory limits (>16 TB). Only root users can trigger this vulnerability by configuring these limits.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Linux Kernel

Versions: Versions before the fix commits (specific versions vary by distribution)

Operating Systems: Linux distributions using vulnerable kernel versions

Default Config Vulnerable: ✅ No

Notes: Only vulnerable when dirty_bytes/dirty_background_bytes > 16TB or dirty_ratio/dirty_background_ratio settings would result in >16TB limits. Requires root access to trigger.

📦 What is this software?

Linux Kernel by Linux

The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...

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⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Kernel panic or system crash leading to denial of service, potentially requiring physical reboot of affected systems.

🟠

Likely Case

System instability or kernel crashes when administrators accidentally set extremely high dirty memory limits during configuration.

🟢

If Mitigated

No impact for systems with normal dirty memory limit configurations or where root access is properly controlled.

🌐 Internet-Facing: LOW - Requires root access to trigger and is not remotely exploitable.

🏢 Internal Only: LOW - Requires root privileges and specific configuration changes that are unlikely in normal operations.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: NO

Unauthenticated Exploit: ✅ No

Complexity: HIGH

Exploitation requires root access to modify system parameters and specific knowledge of the vulnerability. No known active exploitation.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: Kernel versions containing commits: 2b2d2b8766db028bd827af34075f221ae9e9efff, 385d838df280eba6c8680f9777bfa0d0bfe7e8b2, 4d3817b64eda07491bdd86a234629fe0764fb42a, 7a49389771ae7666f4dc3426e2a4594bf23ae290, 8e0b5e7f2895eccef5c2a0018b589266f90c4805

Vendor Advisory: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2b2d2b8766db028bd827af34075f221ae9e9efff

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Update Linux kernel to patched version from your distribution's repositories. 2. Reboot system to load new kernel. 3. Verify kernel version after reboot.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Limit dirty memory settings

linux

Prevent setting dirty_bytes/dirty_background_bytes above 16TB or ensure dirty_ratio/dirty_background_ratio don't result in >16TB limits

echo 17179869184 > /proc/sys/vm/dirty_bytes
echo 8589934592 > /proc/sys/vm/dirty_background_bytes

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Restrict root access to prevent unauthorized modification of dirty memory limits
Implement configuration monitoring to alert on dirty memory limit changes exceeding safe thresholds

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check if current kernel version is before the fix commits. For dirty limits: cat /proc/sys/vm/dirty_bytes and cat /proc/sys/vm/dirty_background_bytes - values > 17592186044416 (16TB) indicate vulnerable configuration.

Check Version:

uname -r

Verify Fix Applied:

Check kernel version after update: uname -r. Verify the fix commits are included in your kernel version.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Kernel panic logs, system crash dumps, or audit logs showing modification of /proc/sys/vm/dirty* parameters

Network Indicators:

None - this is a local configuration issue

SIEM Query:

Search for events modifying /proc/sys/vm/dirty_bytes or /proc/sys/vm/dirty_background_bytes with values > 17592186044416

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2024-42131

CVSS v3 Score: 4.4 (MEDIUM)

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CWE: CWE-190

Published: July 30, 2024

Last Updated: November 3, 2025

📋 TL;DR

💻 Affected Systems

📦 What is this software?

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

Linux Kernel by Linux

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

Worst Case

Likely Case

If Mitigated

🎯 Exploit Status

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Instructions:

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Limit dirty memory settings

🧯 If You Can't Patch

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check Version:

Verify Fix Applied:

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Network Indicators:

SIEM Query:

📊 Metadata

🔗 References

📤 Share & Export

🔗 Related Vulnerabilities