CVE-2022-49708 ext4: fix bug_on ext4_mb_use_inode_pa
A local attacker can trigger a kernel BUG_ON in the ext4 filesystem, causing a system crash and denial of service.
- 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
What is CVE-2022-49708?
CVE-2022-49708 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 26 Feb 2025. 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_on ext4_mb_use_inode_pa
Hulk Robot reported a BUG_ON: ================================================================== kernel BUG at fs/ext4/mballoc.c:3211! [...] RIP: 0010:ext4_mb_mark_diskspace_used.cold+0x85/0x136f [...] Call Trace: ext4_mb_new_blocks+0x9df/0x5d30 ext4_ext_map_blocks+0x1803/0x4d80 ext4_map_blocks+0x3a4/0x1a10 ext4_writepages+0x126d/0x2c30 do_writepages+0x7f/0x1b0 __filemap_fdatawrite_range+0x285/0x3b0 file_write_and_wait_range+0xb1/0x140 ext4_sync_file+0x1aa/0xca0 vfs_fsync_range+0xfb/0x260 do_fsync+0x48/0xa0 [...] ==================================================================
Above issue may happen as follows: ------------------------------------- do_fsync vfs_fsync_range ext4_sync_file file_write_and_wait_range __filemap_fdatawrite_range do_writepages ext4_writepages mpage_map_and_submit_extent mpage_map_one_extent ext4_map_blocks ext4_mb_new_blocks ext4_mb_normalize_request >>> start + size <= ac->ac_o_ex.fe_logical ext4_mb_regular_allocator ext4_mb_simple_scan_group ext4_mb_use_best_found ext4_mb_new_preallocation ext4_mb_new_inode_pa ext4_mb_use_inode_pa >>> set ac->ac_b_ex.fe_len <= 0 ext4_mb_mark_diskspace_used >>> BUG_ON(ac->ac_b_ex.fe_len <= 0);
we can easily reproduce this problem with the following commands: `fallocate -l100M disk` `mkfs.ext4 -b 1024 -g 256 disk` `mount disk /mnt` `fsstress -d /mnt -l 0 -n 1000 -p 1`
The size must be smaller than or equal to EXT4_BLOCKS_PER_GROUP. Therefore, "start + size <= ac->ac_o_ex.fe_logical" may occur when the size is truncated. So start should be the start position of the group where ac_o_ex.fe_logical is located after alignment. In addition, when the value of fe_logical or EXT4_BLOCKS_PER_GROUP is very large, the value calculated by start_off is more accurate.
Weakness: CWE-617
Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49708?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2022-49708?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2022-49708 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49708 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49708, GHSA-67hq-69g7-2v5w, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49708.