CVE-2026-45858

MEDIUM

ext4: don't zero the entire extent if EXT4_EXT_DATA_PARTIAL_VALID1

Title source: cna
STIX 2.1

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: don't zero the entire extent if EXT4_EXT_DATA_PARTIAL_VALID1 When allocating initialized blocks from a large unwritten extent, or when splitting an unwritten extent during end I/O and converting it to initialized, there is currently a potential issue of stale data if the extent needs to be split in the middle. 0 A B N [UUUUUUUUUUUU] U: unwritten extent [--DDDDDDDD--] D: valid data |<- ->| ----> this range needs to be initialized ext4_split_extent() first try to split this extent at B with EXT4_EXT_DATA_ENTIRE_VALID1 and EXT4_EXT_MAY_ZEROOUT flag set, but ext4_split_extent_at() failed to split this extent due to temporary lack of space. It zeroout B to N and mark the entire extent from 0 to N as written. 0 A B N [WWWWWWWWWWWW] W: written extent [SSDDDDDDDDZZ] Z: zeroed, S: stale data ext4_split_extent() then try to split this extent at A with EXT4_EXT_DATA_VALID2 flag set. This time, it split successfully and left a stale written extent from 0 to A. 0 A B N [WW|WWWWWWWWWW] [SS|DDDDDDDDZZ] Fix this by pass EXT4_EXT_DATA_PARTIAL_VALID1 to ext4_split_extent_at() when splitting at B, don't convert the entire extent to written and left it as unwritten after zeroing out B to N. The remaining work is just like the standard two-part split. ext4_split_extent() will pass the EXT4_EXT_DATA_VALID2 flag when it calls ext4_split_extent_at() for the second time, allowing it to properly handle the split. If the split is successful, it will keep extent from 0 to A as unwritten.

Scores

CVSS v3 5.5
EPSS 0.0015
EPSS Percentile 5.1%
Attack Vector LOCAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Details

Status published
Products (33)
linux/Kernel 3.7.0 - 6.6.130linux
linux/Kernel 6.13.0 - 6.18.14linux
linux/Kernel 6.19.0 - 6.19.4linux
linux/Kernel 6.7.0 - 6.12.75linux
Linux/Linux < 3.7
Linux/Linux < 6.12.75
Linux/Linux < 6.18.14
Linux/Linux < 6.19.4
Linux/Linux < 6.6.130
Linux/Linux 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 - 1bf6974822d1dba86cf11b5f05498581cf3488a2
... and 23 more
Published May 27, 2026
Tracked Since May 27, 2026