# CVE-2022-49738: f2fs: fix to do sanity check on i_extra_isize in is_alive()

> A missing sanity check in the Linux kernel's f2fs filesystem allows out-of-bounds memory access, potentially causing a system crash.

- **Severity:** High 7.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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:** 27 Mar 2025
- **Updated:** 15 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49738, GHSA-x6ch-fhmp-9745, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49738

## What is CVE-2022-49738?

CVE-2022-49738 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 Mar 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:

f2fs: fix to do sanity check on i_extra_isize in is_alive()

syzbot found a f2fs bug:

BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in data_blkaddr fs/f2fs/f2fs.h:2891 [inline]
BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in is_alive fs/f2fs/gc.c:1117 [inline]
BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in gc_data_segment fs/f2fs/gc.c:1520 [inline]
BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in do_garbage_collect+0x386a/0x3df0 fs/f2fs/gc.c:1734
Read of size 4 at addr ffff888076557568 by task kworker/u4:3/52

CPU: 1 PID: 52 Comm: kworker/u4:3 Not tainted 6.1.0-rc4-syzkaller-00362-gfef7fd48922d #0
Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 10/26/2022
Workqueue: writeback wb_workfn (flush-7:0)
Call Trace:
<TASK>
__dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:88 [inline]
dump_stack_lvl+0xcd/0x134 lib/dump_stack.c:106
print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:284 [inline]
print_report+0x15e/0x45d mm/kasan/report.c:395
kasan_report+0xbb/0x1f0 mm/kasan/report.c:495
data_blkaddr fs/f2fs/f2fs.h:2891 [inline]
is_alive fs/f2fs/gc.c:1117 [inline]
gc_data_segment fs/f2fs/gc.c:1520 [inline]
do_garbage_collect+0x386a/0x3df0 fs/f2fs/gc.c:1734
f2fs_gc+0x88c/0x20a0 fs/f2fs/gc.c:1831
f2fs_balance_fs+0x544/0x6b0 fs/f2fs/segment.c:410
f2fs_write_inode+0x57e/0xe20 fs/f2fs/inode.c:753
write_inode fs/fs-writeback.c:1440 [inline]
__writeback_single_inode+0xcfc/0x1440 fs/fs-writeback.c:1652
writeback_sb_inodes+0x54d/0xf90 fs/fs-writeback.c:1870
wb_writeback+0x2c5/0xd70 fs/fs-writeback.c:2044
wb_do_writeback fs/fs-writeback.c:2187 [inline]
wb_workfn+0x2dc/0x12f0 fs/fs-writeback.c:2227
process_one_work+0x9bf/0x1710 kernel/workqueue.c:2289
worker_thread+0x665/0x1080 kernel/workqueue.c:2436
kthread+0x2e4/0x3a0 kernel/kthread.c:376
ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:306

The root cause is that we forgot to do sanity check on .i_extra_isize
in below path, result in accessing invalid address later, fix it.
- gc_data_segment
 - is_alive
  - data_blkaddr
   - offset_in_addr

Weakness: CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49738?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49738?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49738 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49738 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-2022-49738 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49738 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 Mar 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-2022-49738 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-2022-49738/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49738/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49738
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49738
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49738

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49738/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.