CVE-2024-40950

MEDIUM
Published Jul 12, 2024 Modified Oct 6, 2025

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm: huge_memory: fix misused mapping_large_folio_support() for anon folios When I did a large folios split test, a WARNING "[ 5059.122759][ T166] Cannot split file folio to non-0 order" was triggered. But the test cases are only for anonmous folios. while mapping_large_folio_support() is only reasonable for page cache folios. In split_huge_page_to_list_to_order(), the folio passed to mapping_large_folio_support() maybe anonmous folio. The folio_test_anon() check is missing. So the split of the anonmous THP is failed. This is also the same for shmem_mapping(). We'd better add a check for both. But the shmem_mapping() in __split_huge_page() is not involved, as for anonmous folios, the end parameter is set to -1, so (head[i].index >= end) is always false. shmem_mapping() is not called. Also add a VM_WARN_ON_ONCE() in mapping_large_folio_support() for anon mapping, So we can detect the wrong use more easily. THP folios maybe exist in the pagecache even the file system doesn't support large folio, it is because when CONFIG_TRANSPARENT_HUGEPAGE is enabled, khugepaged will try to collapse read-only file-backed pages to THP. But the mapping does not actually support multi order large folios properly. Using /sys/kernel/debug/split_huge_pages to verify this, with this patch, large anon THP is successfully split and the warning is ceased.

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CVSS v3.1 Score

5.5
MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Affected Products

Vendor Product
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2024-40950? +
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm: huge_memory: fix misused mapping_large_folio_support() for anon folios When I did a large folios split test, a WARNING "[ 5059.122759][ T166] Cannot split file folio to non-0 order" was triggered. But the test cases are only for anonmous folios. while mapping_large_folio_support() is only reasonable for page cache folios. In split_huge_page_to_list_to_order(), the folio passed to mapping_large_folio_support() maybe anonmous folio. The folio_test_anon() check is missing. So the split of the anonmous THP is failed. This is also the same for shmem_mapping(). We'd better add a check for both. But the shmem_mapping() in __split_huge_page() is not involved, as for anonmous folios, the end parameter is set to -1, so (head[i].index >= end) is always false. shmem_mapping() is not called. Also add a VM_WARN_ON_ONCE() in mapping_large_folio_support() for anon mapping, So we can detect the wrong use more easily. THP folios maybe exist in the pagecache even the file system doesn't support large folio, it is because when CONFIG_TRANSPARENT_HUGEPAGE is enabled, khugepaged will try to collapse read-only file-backed pages to THP. But the mapping does not actually support multi order large folios properly. Using /sys/kernel/debug/split_huge_pages to verify this, with this patch, large anon THP is successfully split and the warning is ceased. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.5 (MEDIUM).
How severe is CVE-2024-40950? +
CVE-2024-40950 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 5.5 out of 10, rated MEDIUM. This is a medium-severity vulnerability that should be remediated as part of regular maintenance.
What products are affected by CVE-2024-40950? +
CVE-2024-40950 affects products from linux, specifically: linux_kernel. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.
How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2024-40950? +
You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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