CVE-2022-50126 jbd2: fix assertion 'jh->b_frozen_data == NULL' failure when journal aborted
A local attacker can trigger a kernel assertion failure in the ext4 journaling layer, 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-2022-50126?
CVE-2022-50126 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 Jun 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:
jbd2: fix assertion 'jh->b_frozen_data == NULL' failure when journal aborted
Following process will fail assertion 'jh->b_frozen_data == NULL' in jbd2_journal_dirty_metadata():
jbd2_journal_commit_transaction unlink(dir/a) jh->b_transaction = trans1 jh->b_jlist = BJ_Metadata journal->j_running_transaction = NULL trans1->t_state = T_COMMIT unlink(dir/b) handle->h_trans = trans2 do_get_write_access jh->b_modified = 0 jh->b_frozen_data = frozen_buffer jh->b_next_transaction = trans2 jbd2_journal_dirty_metadata is_handle_aborted is_journal_aborted // return false
--> jbd2 abort <--
while (commit_transaction->t_buffers) if (is_journal_aborted) jbd2_journal_refile_buffer __jbd2_journal_refile_buffer WRITE_ONCE(jh->b_transaction, jh->b_next_transaction) WRITE_ONCE(jh->b_next_transaction, NULL) __jbd2_journal_file_buffer(jh, BJ_Reserved) J_ASSERT_JH(jh, jh->b_frozen_data == NULL) // assertion failure !
The reproducer (See detail in [Link]) reports: ------------[ cut here ]------------ kernel BUG at fs/jbd2/transaction.c:1629! invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP CPU: 2 PID: 584 Comm: unlink Tainted: G W 5.19.0-rc6-00115-g4a57a8400075-dirty #697 RIP: 0010:jbd2_journal_dirty_metadata+0x3c5/0x470 RSP: 0018:ffffc90000be7ce0 EFLAGS: 00010202 Call Trace: <TASK> __ext4_handle_dirty_metadata+0xa0/0x290 ext4_handle_dirty_dirblock+0x10c/0x1d0 ext4_delete_entry+0x104/0x200 __ext4_unlink+0x22b/0x360 ext4_unlink+0x275/0x390 vfs_unlink+0x20b/0x4c0 do_unlinkat+0x42f/0x4c0 __x64_sys_unlink+0x37/0x50 do_syscall_64+0x35/0x80
After journal aborting, __jbd2_journal_refile_buffer() is executed with holding @jh->b_state_lock, we can fix it by moving 'is_handle_aborted()' into the area protected by @jh->b_state_lock.
Weakness: CWE-617
Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50126?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2022-50126?
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-2022-50126 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50126 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50126, GHSA-w74v-3fr4-63jv, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50126.