# CVE-2022-48631: ext4: fix bug in extents parsing when eh_entries == 0 and eh_depth > 0

> A local attacker can cause a kernel crash by mounting a crafted ext4 filesystem with specific extent header values.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 28 Apr 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-48631, GHSA-9r47-mqc5-7vfp, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-48631

## What is CVE-2022-48631?

CVE-2022-48631 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 28 Apr 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ext4: fix bug in extents parsing when eh_entries == 0 and eh_depth > 0

When walking through an inode extents, the ext4_ext_binsearch_idx() function
assumes that the extent header has been previously validated.  However, there
are no checks that verify that the number of entries (eh->eh_entries) is
non-zero when depth is > 0.  And this will lead to problems because the
EXT_FIRST_INDEX() and EXT_LAST_INDEX() will return garbage and result in this:

[  135.245946] ------------[ cut here ]------------
[  135.247579] kernel BUG at fs/ext4/extents.c:2258!
[  135.249045] invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP
[  135.250320] CPU: 2 PID: 238 Comm: tmp118 Not tainted 5.19.0-rc8+ #4
[  135.252067] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.15.0-0-g2dd4b9b-rebuilt.opensuse.org 04/01/2014
[  135.255065] RIP: 0010:ext4_ext_map_blocks+0xc20/0xcb0
[  135.256475] Code:
[  135.261433] RSP: 0018:ffffc900005939f8 EFLAGS: 00010246
[  135.262847] RAX: 0000000000000024 RBX: ffffc90000593b70 RCX: 0000000000000023
[  135.264765] RDX: ffff8880038e5f10 RSI: 0000000000000003 RDI: ffff8880046e922c
[  135.266670] RBP: ffff8880046e9348 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: ffff888002ca580c
[  135.268576] R10: 0000000000002602 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: 0000000000000024
[  135.270477] R13: 0000000000000000 R14: 0000000000000024 R15: 0000000000000000
[  135.272394] FS:  00007fdabdc56740(0000) GS:ffff88807dd00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
[  135.274510] CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
[  135.276075] CR2: 00007ffc26bd4f00 CR3: 0000000006261004 CR4: 0000000000170ea0
[  135.277952] Call Trace:
[  135.278635]  <TASK>
[  135.279247]  ? preempt_count_add+0x6d/0xa0
[  135.280358]  ? percpu_counter_add_batch+0x55/0xb0
[  135.281612]  ? _raw_read_unlock+0x18/0x30
[  135.282704]  ext4_map_blocks+0x294/0x5a0
[  135.283745]  ? xa_load+0x6f/0xa0
[  135.284562]  ext4_mpage_readpages+0x3d6/0x770
[  135.285646]  read_pages+0x67/0x1d0
[  135.286492]  ? folio_add_lru+0x51/0x80
[  135.287441]  page_cache_ra_unbounded+0x124/0x170
[  135.288510]  filemap_get_pages+0x23d/0x5a0
[  135.289457]  ? path_openat+0xa72/0xdd0
[  135.290332]  filemap_read+0xbf/0x300
[  135.291158]  ? _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x17/0x40
[  135.292192]  new_sync_read+0x103/0x170
[  135.293014]  vfs_read+0x15d/0x180
[  135.293745]  ksys_read+0xa1/0xe0
[  135.294461]  do_syscall_64+0x3c/0x80
[  135.295284]  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x46/0xb0

This patch simply adds an extra check in __ext4_ext_check(), verifying that
eh_entries is not 0 when eh_depth is > 0.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-48631?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-48631?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-48631 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-48631 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-48631 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-48631 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 28 Apr 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-48631 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48631/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48631/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-48631
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-48631
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-48631

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48631/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
