GHSA-XPRV-HX7V-6FPH
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-09-17 18:32 – Updated: 2026-09-17 18:32In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ext4: use fsdata to track inline data write state and fix race
Instead of checking the live inode state (ext4_has_inline_data(inode) and ext4_test_inode_state(inode, EXT4_STATE_MAY_INLINE_DATA)) in the write_end handlers, use the fsdata parameter of the address space operations to explicitly pass down the state in which write_begin prepared the write.
A concurrent thread (such as ext4_page_mkwrite()) can convert the inline data to an extent between write_begin and write_end. If this happens, the write_end handlers would previously miss the inline write_end path and fall through to extent-based write_end logic. However, since block buffers were never allocated in write_begin, this resulted in NULL pointer dereferences or data loss because folio_buffers(folio) was NULL.
Define EXT4_WRITE_DATA_INLINE (4) as a bit flag (Bit 2), treating fsdata as bitwise flags rather than mutually exclusive enums to keep states of the write path independent. Communicate this state via fsdata: 1) ext4_write_begin() and ext4_da_write_begin() set the EXT4_WRITE_DATA_INLINE bit in *fsdata via bitwise OR when an inline write is successfully prepared. 2) On entry, ext4_write_begin() clears the EXT4_WRITE_DATA_INLINE bit to safely handle VFS retries (where generic_perform_write() bypasses the fsdata initialization on its retry jump). 3) The write_end handlers perform a bitwise AND to check if the EXT4_WRITE_DATA_INLINE bit is set and invoke the inline write_end helper accordingly.
Furthermore, during a buffered write, ext4_write_inline_data_end() acquires the xattr lock after preparing the write. If a concurrent page fault (ext4_page_mkwrite()) converts the inline data to an extent after the write_end handlers check the state but before ext4_write_inline_data_end() acquires the xattr write lock, the subsequent check will trigger a kernel panic via BUG_ON(!ext4_has_inline_data(inode)).
To keep git history working and bisectability clean, replace the BUG_ON check in ext4_write_inline_data_end() with a graceful error- handling retry path in this same commit. If the inline data is cleared after locking the xattr, we safely release all resources (releasing iloc.bh, unlocking/putting the folio, stopping the active journal transaction handle) and return 0 (VFS retry) to let the generic write path retry the operation safely.
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-92500"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2026-09-17T17:17:52Z",
"severity": null
},
"details": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\next4: use fsdata to track inline data write state and fix race\n\nInstead of checking the live inode state (ext4_has_inline_data(inode)\nand ext4_test_inode_state(inode, EXT4_STATE_MAY_INLINE_DATA)) in the\nwrite_end handlers, use the fsdata parameter of the address space\noperations to explicitly pass down the state in which write_begin\nprepared the write.\n\nA concurrent thread (such as ext4_page_mkwrite()) can convert the\ninline data to an extent between write_begin and write_end. If this\nhappens, the write_end handlers would previously miss the inline\nwrite_end path and fall through to extent-based write_end logic.\nHowever, since block buffers were never allocated in write_begin,\nthis resulted in NULL pointer dereferences or data loss because\nfolio_buffers(folio) was NULL.\n\nDefine EXT4_WRITE_DATA_INLINE (4) as a bit flag (Bit 2), treating\nfsdata as bitwise flags rather than mutually exclusive enums to keep\nstates of the write path independent. Communicate this state via\nfsdata:\n1) ext4_write_begin() and ext4_da_write_begin() set the\n EXT4_WRITE_DATA_INLINE bit in *fsdata via bitwise OR when an inline\n write is successfully prepared.\n2) On entry, ext4_write_begin() clears the EXT4_WRITE_DATA_INLINE bit\n to safely handle VFS retries (where generic_perform_write() bypasses\n the fsdata initialization on its retry jump).\n3) The write_end handlers perform a bitwise AND to check if the\n EXT4_WRITE_DATA_INLINE bit is set and invoke the inline write_end\n helper accordingly.\n\nFurthermore, during a buffered write, ext4_write_inline_data_end()\nacquires the xattr lock after preparing the write. If a concurrent\npage fault (ext4_page_mkwrite()) converts the inline data to an extent\nafter the write_end handlers check the state but before\next4_write_inline_data_end() acquires the xattr write lock, the\nsubsequent check will trigger a kernel panic via\nBUG_ON(!ext4_has_inline_data(inode)).\n\nTo keep git history working and bisectability clean, replace the\nBUG_ON check in ext4_write_inline_data_end() with a graceful error-\nhandling retry path in this same commit. If the inline data is cleared\nafter locking the xattr, we safely release all resources (releasing\niloc.bh, unlocking/putting the folio, stopping the active journal\ntransaction handle) and return 0 (VFS retry) to let the generic write\npath retry the operation safely.",
"id": "GHSA-xprv-hx7v-6fph",
"modified": "2026-09-17T18:32:06Z",
"published": "2026-09-17T18:32:06Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-92500"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/439aedfd7ae868d1d7b4930afe66091cb979cd5c"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7edbb323bab2b2a609016014caafdb651c898249"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bd8d74bd46d09905164255b8635fa58b45f41068"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": []
}
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