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TI-2026-55821 Aliases CVE-2026-80808GHSA-wr3h-qp2h-x6vf

ext4: stop retrying saturated xattr cache entries

Priority LOW 22Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
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Privileges required
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User interaction
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Attack complexity
—
Impact type
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Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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Fix status
Partial Red Hat: 6 without a fix

No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: stop retrying saturated xattr cache entries ext4_xattr_block_set() retries when a cache entry selected for reuse has a saturated reference count after taking the buffer lock. The retry returns to the mbcache lookup without making that entry ineligible, so it can select the same unusable entry indefinitely. A task spinning there can hold the parent directory's i_rwsem and leave concurrent rmdir callers blocked. Normally a reusable entry has a reference count below EXT4_XATTR_REFCOUNT_MAX because the count and MBE_REUSABLE_B are updated under the same buffer lock. A corrupted filesystem can violate that invariant. The syzbot reproducer reports allocator and xattr corruption before triggering this retry loop. Check the untrusted on-disk count before incrementing it, avoiding overflow, and clear MBE_REUSABLE_B when it is already saturated. The next lookup then skips the entry that was just proven unusable. This mirrors the normal transition at EXT4_XATTR_REFCOUNT_MAX; the release path marks the entry reusable again on the exact 1024-to-1023 transition. Using the same QEMU harness and guest parameters, current unpatched Linux hung in 6 of 8 420-second trials with the do_rmdir signature; representative NMI backtraces caught the owner spinning in ext4_xattr_block_set(). The patched kernel completed 28 of 28 trials without a hung-task report; the final twelve trials exercised the reviewed overflow-safe form of the change. syzbot's patch testing also completed without reproducing the hang.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00195 9th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial Linux (Linux): 5.10.267, 5.15.218, 4.20 +10Red Hat: 6 without a fix

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
None
Automatable
No
Technical impact
Partial

The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
LinuxLinux5.10.163 to before 5.10.267; 5.15.61 to before 5.15.218; 4.19.270 to before 4.20; 5.4.229 to before 5.5; 5.18.18 to before 5.19; 5.19.2 to before 5.205.10.267, 5.15.218, 4.20, 5.5, 5.19, 5.20Patch availableCNA
LinuxLinux6.0 and later5.10.267, 5.15.218, 6.1.185, 6.6.154, 6.12.106, 6.18.47, 7.1.11, 7.2.1, 7.3Patch availableCNA
  • Linux VendorLinux Affected 5.10.163 to before 5.10.267; 5.15.61 to before 5.15.218; 4.19.270 to before 4.20; 5.4.229 to before 5.5; 5.18.18 to before 5.19; 5.19.2 to before 5.20 Fixed in 5.10.267, 5.15.218, 4.20, 5.5, 5.19, 5.20 Patch available CNA
  • Linux VendorLinux Affected 6.0 and later Fixed in 5.10.267, 5.15.218, 6.1.185, 6.6.154, 6.12.106, 6.18.47, 7.1.11, 7.2.1, 7.3 Patch available CNA

CPE names Threatist (inferred) · 1

Inferred from how NVD named this product before; not given by a source.

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*——Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·Linux

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.267, 5.15.218, 4.20, 5.5, 5.19, 5.20
  • Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.267, 5.15.218, 6.1.185, 6.6.154, 6.12.106, 6.18.47, 7.1.11, 7.2.1, 7.3

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6AffectedNo fix planned: Out of support scope
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Not affected: 2 products
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-80808
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-wr3h-qp2h-x6vf
  3. 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
  4. 2026-11-01 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
  5. 2026-11-01 CVSS score added · Red Hat
  6. 2026-11-06 CISA SSVC decision points changed

References

  • TI-2025-26358 tls: fix handling of zero-length records on the rx_list KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2026-38352 netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2021-02452 Incorrect authorization in Ubuntu linux kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
  • TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
See all 21741 →

Sources