CVE-2024-39469: nilfs2: fix nilfs_empty_dir() misjudgment and long loop on I/O errors

Severity: high (CVSS 7.1 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.3% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2024-06-25 · updated 2026-10-15

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nilfs2: fix nilfs_empty_dir() misjudgment and long loop on I/O errors The error handling in nilfs_empty_dir() when a directory folio/page read fails is incorrect, as in the old ext2 implementation, and if the folio/page cannot be read or nilfs_check_folio() fails, it will falsely determine the directory as empty and corrupt the file system. In addition, since nilfs_empty_dir() does not immediately return on a failed folio/page read, but continues to loop, this can cause a long loop with I/O if i_size of the directory's inode is also corrupted, causing the log writer thread to wait and hang, as reported by syzbot. Fix these issues by making nilfs_empty_dir() immediately return a false value (0) if it fails to get a directory folio/page.

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 2.6.30 before 4.19.317; from 4.20 before 5.4.279; from 5.5 before 5.10.221; from 5.11 before 5.15.162; from 5.16 before 6.1.95; from 6.2 before 6.6.35 — fixed in 4.19.317, 5.10.221, 5.15.162, 5.4.279, 6.1.95, 6.6.35

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 4.19.317, 5.10.221, 5.15.162, 5.4.279. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

Get alerted when CVE-2024-39469 or the next vulnerability affects your stack