# CVE-2026-74414: hfsplus: Remove the duplicate attr inode dirty marking action

> A local attacker can cause a kernel crash via null pointer dereference in HFS+ filesystem when setting extended attributes on an unloaded attributes file.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **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:** 15 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 17 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2026-74414, GHSA-ww36-wq8j-p7q8, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-74414

## What is CVE-2026-74414?

CVE-2026-74414 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 Aug 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:

hfsplus: Remove the duplicate attr inode dirty marking action

Syzbot reported a null-ptr-deref in [1].
If the attributes file is not loaded during system mount, a trigger
occurs [1] when setxattr is executed in userspace.

Remove the first mark attr inode dirty operation.

[1]
KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000008-0x000000000000000f]
Call Trace:
 hfsplus_setxattr+0x124/0x340 fs/hfsplus/xattr.c:555
 hfsplus_trusted_setxattr+0x40/0x60 fs/hfsplus/xattr_trusted.c:30
 __vfs_setxattr+0x43c/0x480 fs/xattr.c:218
 __vfs_setxattr_noperm+0x12d/0x660 fs/xattr.c:252
 vfs_setxattr+0x163/0x360 fs/xattr.c:339
 do_setxattr fs/xattr.c:654 [inline]

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-74414?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-74414?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-74414 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-74414 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-74414 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-74414 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 Aug 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-2026-74414 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2026-74414/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-74414/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-74414
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-74414
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-74414

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-74414/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.