# 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.

- **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:** 26 Feb 2025
- **Updated:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49708, GHSA-67hq-69g7-2v5w, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49708

## 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 (Reachable Assertion)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49708?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49708?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## 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

- [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-2022-49708 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49708 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-2022-49708/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49708/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49708
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49708
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49708

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49708/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.