# CVE-2026-45985: ext4: don't set EXT4_GET_BLOCKS_CONVERT when splitting before submitting I/O

> A flaw in the Linux kernel ext4 filesystem allows attackers to read stale data from disk under specific direct I/O conditions.

- **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:** 27 May 2026
- **Updated:** 27 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-45985, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-45985, GHSA-qwcw-8jc7-8mhw, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-45985, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-45985, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-45985, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-45985, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-45985

## What is CVE-2026-45985?

CVE-2026-45985 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 May 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:

ext4: don't set EXT4_GET_BLOCKS_CONVERT when splitting before submitting I/O

When allocating blocks during within-EOF DIO and writeback with
dioread_nolock enabled, EXT4_GET_BLOCKS_PRE_IO was set to split an
existing large unwritten extent. However, EXT4_GET_BLOCKS_CONVERT was
set when calling ext4_split_convert_extents(), which may potentially
result in stale data issues.

Assume we have an unwritten extent, and then DIO writes the second half.

   [UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU] on-disk extent        U: unwritten extent
   [UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU] extent status tree
            |<-   ->| ----> dio write this range

First, ext4_iomap_alloc() call ext4_map_blocks() with
EXT4_GET_BLOCKS_PRE_IO, EXT4_GET_BLOCKS_UNWRIT_EXT and
EXT4_GET_BLOCKS_CREATE flags set. ext4_map_blocks() find this extent and
call ext4_split_convert_extents() with EXT4_GET_BLOCKS_CONVERT and the
above flags set.

Then, ext4_split_convert_extents() calls ext4_split_extent() with
EXT4_EXT_MAY_ZEROOUT, EXT4_EXT_MARK_UNWRIT2 and EXT4_EXT_DATA_VALID2
flags set, and it calls ext4_split_extent_at() to split the second half
with EXT4_EXT_DATA_VALID2, EXT4_EXT_MARK_UNWRIT1, EXT4_EXT_MAY_ZEROOUT
and EXT4_EXT_MARK_UNWRIT2 flags set. However, ext4_split_extent_at()
failed to insert extent since a temporary lack -ENOSPC. It zeroes out
the first half but convert the entire on-disk extent to written since
the EXT4_EXT_DATA_VALID2 flag set, but left the second half as unwritten
in the extent status tree.

   [0000000000SSSSSS]  data                S: stale data, 0: zeroed
   [WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW]  on-disk extent      W: written extent
   [WWWWWWWWWWUUUUUU]  extent status tree

Finally, if the DIO failed to write data to the disk, the stale data in
the second half will be exposed once the cached extent entry is gone.

Fix this issue by not passing EXT4_GET_BLOCKS_CONVERT when splitting
an unwritten extent before submitting I/O, and make
ext4_split_convert_extents() to zero out the entire extent range
to zero for this case, and also mark the extent in the extent status
tree for consistency.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-45985?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-45985?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-45985 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-45985 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-2026-45985 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-45985 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 May 2026. 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-2026-45985 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-2026-45985/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45985/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-45985
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-45985
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-45985

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45985/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.