CVE-2022-50205 ext2: Add more validity checks for inode counts

Medium 5.5 Published Updated

A missing validity check in the Linux kernel ext2 filesystem allows attackers to cause a system crash by mounting a corrupted filesystem.

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-2022-50205?

CVE-2022-50205 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:

ext2: Add more validity checks for inode counts

Add checks verifying number of inodes stored in the superblock matches the number computed from number of inodes per group. Also verify we have at least one block worth of inodes per group. This prevents crashes on corrupted filesystems.

Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-50205?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2022-50205?

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-2022-50205 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-50205 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50205, GHSA-mrm7-wfp3-2v32, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50205.

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