# CVE-2026-98941: ext4: don't enable large folios on encrypted inodes


- **Severity:** High 7.0 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 23 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 24 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98941, GHSA-jjvw-qjpr-6rpv, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98941

## What is CVE-2026-98941?

CVE-2026-98941 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, published on 23 Oct 2026. 

### Official description

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

ext4: don't enable large folios on encrypted inodes

Commit 709f0f1f1bf5 ("ext4: add checks for large folio
incompatibilities when BS > PS") disables large folios at mount time
if the "encrypt" feature is set. However, enabling that feature on a
mounted filesystem circumvents that check, and writing encrypted data
results in a crash:

  BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000028
  Workqueue: ext4-rsv-conversion ext4_end_io_rsv_work
  RIP: 0010:ext4_finish_bio+0xf7/0x3e0
  Call Trace:
   ext4_release_io_end+0x51/0x110
   ext4_end_io_end+0x4c/0xe0
   ext4_end_io_rsv_work+0xb3/0x100

Fix this by disabling large folios on encrypted inodes, as is
already done for inodes that use data journaling.

This affects all kernels between v6.19 and v7.2, but it is not needed
in v7.3, where the code was significantly refactored.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98941?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-98941?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2026-98941 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98941 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-98941 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-98941 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, published on 23 Oct 2026. 
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98941 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-2026-98941/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98941/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98941
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98941
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98941

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98941/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.