CVE-2026-43067

CRITICAL

ext4: handle wraparound when searching for blocks for indirect mapped blocks

Title source: cna
STIX 2.1

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: handle wraparound when searching for blocks for indirect mapped blocks Commit 4865c768b563 ("ext4: always allocate blocks only from groups inode can use") restricts what blocks will be allocated for indirect block based files to block numbers that fit within 32-bit block numbers. However, when using a review bot running on the latest Gemini LLM to check this commit when backporting into an LTS based kernel, it raised this concern: If ac->ac_g_ex.fe_group is >= ngroups (for instance, if the goal group was populated via stream allocation from s_mb_last_groups), then start will be >= ngroups. Does this allow allocating blocks beyond the 32-bit limit for indirect block mapped files? The commit message mentions that ext4_mb_scan_groups_linear() takes care to not select unsupported groups. However, its loop uses group = *start, and the very first iteration will call ext4_mb_scan_group() with this unsupported group because next_linear_group() is only called at the end of the iteration. After reviewing the code paths involved and considering the LLM review, I determined that this can happen when there is a file system where some files/directories are extent-mapped and others are indirect-block mapped. To address this, add a safety clamp in ext4_mb_scan_groups().

Scores

CVSS v3 9.8
EPSS 0.0007
EPSS Percentile 21.7%
Attack Vector NETWORK
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Details

Status published
Products (15)
Linux/Linux 16fce6b6c0b247258c6c217fce5a48abf50f6964
Linux/Linux 1b0edd6022a3f44ce87fea9959a9310f4628fbea - 83170a05908b6cf2fb3235d3065bf613ff866f3c
Linux/Linux 321ed8d559c951e71ad2d2d69a4cf0445644e865 - 2a368ccddfc492a0aa951e2caef2985f20e96503
Linux/Linux 34c803edc0b3365a42efcf9815acab63b4cf54e0 - 12624c5b724a81e14e532972b40d863b0de3b7d1
Linux/Linux 4865c768b563deff1b6a6384e74a62f143427b42 - bb81702370fad22c06ca12b6e1648754dbc37e0f
Linux/Linux 5.15.203 - 5.16
Linux/Linux 6.1.167 - 6.1.168
Linux/Linux 6.12.77 - 6.12.80
Linux/Linux 6.18.14 - 6.18.21
Linux/Linux 6.19.4 - 6.19.11
... and 5 more
Published May 05, 2026
Tracked Since May 05, 2026