CVE-2026-23224 erofs: fix UAF issue for file-backed mounts w/ directio option
A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel EROFS filesystem allows local attackers to cause a system crash or potentially execute code when using file-backed mounts with the directio option.
- 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-2026-23224?
CVE-2026-23224 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 Feb 2026. 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:
erofs: fix UAF issue for file-backed mounts w/ directio option
[ 9.269940][ T3222] Call trace: [ 9.269948][ T3222] ext4_file_read_iter+0xac/0x108 [ 9.269979][ T3222] vfs_iocb_iter_read+0xac/0x198 [ 9.269993][ T3222] erofs_fileio_rq_submit+0x12c/0x180 [ 9.270008][ T3222] erofs_fileio_submit_bio+0x14/0x24 [ 9.270030][ T3222] z_erofs_runqueue+0x834/0x8ac [ 9.270054][ T3222] z_erofs_read_folio+0x120/0x220 [ 9.270083][ T3222] filemap_read_folio+0x60/0x120 [ 9.270102][ T3222] filemap_fault+0xcac/0x1060 [ 9.270119][ T3222] do_pte_missing+0x2d8/0x1554 [ 9.270131][ T3222] handle_mm_fault+0x5ec/0x70c [ 9.270142][ T3222] do_page_fault+0x178/0x88c [ 9.270167][ T3222] do_translation_fault+0x38/0x54 [ 9.270183][ T3222] do_mem_abort+0x54/0xac [ 9.270208][ T3222] el0_da+0x44/0x7c [ 9.270227][ T3222] el0t_64_sync_handler+0x5c/0xf4 [ 9.270253][ T3222] el0t_64_sync+0x1bc/0x1c0
EROFS may encounter above panic when enabling file-backed mount w/ directio mount option, the root cause is it may suffer UAF in below race condition:
- z_erofs_read_folio wq s_dio_done_wq - z_erofs_runqueue - erofs_fileio_submit_bio - erofs_fileio_rq_submit - vfs_iocb_iter_read - ext4_file_read_iter - ext4_dio_read_iter - iomap_dio_rw : bio was submitted and return -EIOCBQUEUED - dio_aio_complete_work - dio_complete - dio->iocb->ki_complete (erofs_fileio_ki_complete()) - kfree(rq) : it frees iocb, iocb.ki_filp can be UAF in file_accessed(). - file_accessed : access NULL file point
Introduce a reference count in struct erofs_fileio_rq, and initialize it as two, both erofs_fileio_ki_complete() and erofs_fileio_rq_submit() will decrease reference count, the last one decreasing the reference count to zero will free rq.
Weakness: CWE-416
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23224?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2026-23224?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.
Is CVE-2026-23224 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23224 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-23224, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23224, GHSA-8j5g-3q2r-xfjh, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-23224, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-23224, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23224.