# CVE-2026-98885: ima: return error early if file xattr cannot be changed


- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 23 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 26 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-110620, BELL-CVE-2026-98885, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98885, GHSA-p85h-x79c-c6pv, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98885

## What is CVE-2026-98885?

CVE-2026-98885 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 23 Oct 2026. 

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ima: return error early if file xattr cannot be changed

During early boot, the filesystem is read-only and any changes
to xattrs are not allowed. This fails in case of ext4 because
changing xattr starts an ext4 transaction which fails with the
following warning.

WARNING: fs/ext4/ext4_jbd2.c:75 at ext4_journal_check_start+0x63/0xa0 [ext4], CPU#1: systemd-sysroot/561
CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 561 Comm: systemd-sysroot Not tainted 6.19.12-1-default #1 PREEMPT(voluntary) openSUSE Tumbleweed  c2dfc3c9d9f6f1233251c5d4410574fe82a348ee
Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS unknown 02/02/2022
RIP: 0010:ext4_journal_check_start+0x63/0xa0 [ext4]
Call Trace:
  __ext4_journal_start_sb+0x3e/0x180 [ext4 6d025f3bc52c89a957b89a89d211fadf5e9434e1]
  ext4_xattr_set+0x104/0x150 [ext4 6d025f3bc52c89a957b89a89d211fadf5e9434e1]
  __vfs_setxattr+0x9a/0xd0
  __vfs_setxattr_noperm+0x76/0x1f0
  ima_appraise_measurement+0x23e/0xe40
  ima_d_path+0x5a/0xd0
  process_measurement+0xb29/0xc40
  ? copy_from_kernel_nofault+0x21/0xe0
  ? fscrypt_file_open+0xc0/0xe0
  ? ext4_file_open+0x60/0x490 [ext4 6d025f3bc52c89a957b89a89d211fadf5e9434e1]
  ? bpf_prog_31efb7c56239148b_restrict_filesystems+0xab/0x126
  ? __bpf_prog_exit+0x23/0xd0
  ? __bpf_tramp_exit+0xd/0x50
  ? bpf_trampoline_6442530367+0x9f/0xea
  ima_file_check+0x57/0x80
  security_file_post_open+0x50/0xf0
  path_openat+0x493/0x1650
  do_filp_open+0xc7/0x170

Detect the state of the file early and return the error.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98885?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-98885?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2026-98885 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98885 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-98885 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-98885 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 23 Oct 2026. 
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98885 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-2026-98885/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98885/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98885
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98885
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98885

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98885/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.