ext4: fix deadlock due to mbcache entry corruption
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 5 fixed, 3 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: fix deadlock due to mbcache entry corruption When manipulating xattr blocks, we can deadlock infinitely looping inside ext4_xattr_block_set() where we constantly keep finding xattr block for reuse in mbcache but we are unable to reuse it because its reference count is too big. This happens because cache entry for the xattr block is marked as reusable (e_reusable set) although its reference count is too big. When this inconsistency happens, this inconsistent state is kept indefinitely and so ext4_xattr_block_set() keeps retrying indefinitely. The inconsistent state is caused by non-atomic update of e_reusable bit. e_reusable is part of a bitfield and e_reusable update can race with update of e_referenced bit in the same bitfield resulting in loss of one of the updates. Fix the problem by using atomic bitops instead. This bug has been around for many years, but it became *much* easier to hit after commit 65f8b80053a1 ("ext4: fix race when reusing xattr blocks").
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 4.19.270, 5.4.229, 5.10.163, 5.15.87, 6.0.18, 6.1.4, 6.2
Red Hat 2 advisories
- RHSA-2024:3138 Released 2024-05-22 · Red Hat rating Moderatekernel security, bug fix, and enhancement update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8) bpftool-4.18.0-553.el8_10, kernel-4.18.0-553.el8_10, kernel-abi-stablelists-4.18.0-553.el8_10 +19
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux CRB (v. 8) kernel-tools-libs-devel-4.18.0-553.el8_10
- RHSA-2023:2458 Released 2023-05-09 · Red Hat rating Importantkernel security, bug fix, and enhancement update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) kernel-64k-debug-devel-5.14.0-284.11.1.el9_2, kernel-64k-debug-devel-matched-5.14.0-284.11.1.el9_2, kernel-64k-devel-5.14.0-284.11.1.el9_2 +10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) bpftool-7.0.0-284.11.1.el9_2, kernel-5.14.0-284.11.1.el9_2, kernel-64k-5.14.0-284.11.1.el9_2 +29
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux CRB (v. 9) kernel-tools-libs-devel-5.14.0-284.11.1.el9_2
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2023:2458 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8) | Fixed | RHSA-2024:3138 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2023:2458 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux CRB (v. 8) | Fixed | RHSA-2024:3138 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux CRB (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2023:2458 |
Not affected: 2 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2022-50668
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-22wc-8hcq-634h
References
Other 7
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/efaa0ca678f56d47316a08030b2515678cebbc50
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/af53065276376750dfac35a7248af18806404c5d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1be16a0c2f10186df505e28b0cc92d7f3366e2a8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5bc0b2fda4b47c86278f7c6d30c211f425bf51cf
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/127b80cefb941a81255c72f11081123f3a705369
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cc1538c693d25e282bed8c54b65c914a04023a78
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a44e84a9b7764c72896f7241a0ec9ac7e7ef38dd
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Sources
- CVE-2022-50668 · CVE Program
- CVE-2022-50668 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-22wc-8hcq-634h · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2022-50668 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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