# CVE-2026-98445: xfs: don't let memory failures leak blocks and kill repairs

> A memory allocation failure in XFS online repair can leak blocks and crash the filesystem, causing denial of service.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 18 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-98445, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98445, GHSA-vx8f-phpg-5qwp, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98445

## What is CVE-2026-98445?

CVE-2026-98445 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 18 Oct 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:

xfs: don't let memory failures leak blocks and kill repairs

LOLLM complains that a memory allocation failure in
xrep_newbt_add_blocks results in online repair leaking blocks that were
previously allocated to write a new btree, but the problem is worse than
that -- a limitation of the codebase is that the callers cannot undo the
transaction /and/ return the error -- either you undo all changes and
commit the transaction, or you error out and the filesystem goes down.

However, the new btree space reservation object isn't that big (~48
bytes).  Let's just do a NOFAIL allocation and the problem goes away.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98445?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-98445?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-98445 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98445 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-98445 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-98445 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 18 Oct 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-2026-98445 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-2026-98445/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98445/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98445
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98445
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98445

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98445/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.