CVE-2025-68261: ext4: add i_data_sem protection in ext4_destroy_inline_data_nolock()

Severity: high (CVSS 7.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.6% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2025-12-16 · updated 2026-10-15

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: add i_data_sem protection in ext4_destroy_inline_data_nolock() Fix a race between inline data destruction and block mapping. The function ext4_destroy_inline_data_nolock() changes the inode data layout by clearing EXT4_INODE_INLINE_DATA and setting EXT4_INODE_EXTENTS. At the same time, another thread may execute ext4_map_blocks(), which tests EXT4_INODE_EXTENTS to decide whether to call ext4_ext_map_blocks() or ext4_ind_map_blocks(). Without i_data_sem protection, ext4_ind_map_blocks() may receive inode with EXT4_INODE_EXTENTS flag and triggering assert. kernel BUG at fs/ext4/indirect.c:546! EXT4-fs (loop2): unmounting filesystem. invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN NOPTI Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.12.0-1 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:ext4_ind_map_blocks.cold+0x2b/0x5a fs/ext4/indirect.c:546 Call Trace: <TASK> ext4_map_blocks+0xb9b/0x16f0 fs/ext4/inode.c:681 _ext4_get_block+0x242/0x590 fs/ext4/inode.c:822 ext4_block_write_begin+0x48b/0x12c0 fs/ext4/inode.c:1124 ext4_write_begin+0x598/0xef0 fs/ext4/inode.c:1255 ext4_da_write_begin+0x21e/0x9c0 fs/ext4/inode.c:3000 generic_perform_write+0x259/0x5d0 mm/filemap.c:3846 ext4_buffered_write_iter+0x15b/0x470 fs/ext4/file.c:285 ext4_file_write_iter+0x8e0/0x17f0 fs/ext4/file.c:679 call_write_iter include/linux/fs.h:2271 [inline] do_iter_readv_writev+0x212/0x3c0 fs/read_write.c:735 do_iter_write+0x186/0x710 fs/read_write.c:861 vfs_iter_write+0x70/0xa0 fs/read_write.c:902 iter_file_splice_write+0x73b/0xc90 fs/splice.c:685 do_splice_from fs/splice.c:763 [inline] direct_splice_actor+0x10f/0x170 fs/splice.c:950 splice_direct_to_actor+0x33a/0xa10 fs/splice.c:896 do_splice_direct+0x1a9/0x280 fs/splice.c:1002 do_sendfile+0xb13/0x12c0 fs/read_write.c:1255 __do_sys_sendfile64 fs/read_write.c:1323 [inline] __se_sys_sendfile64 fs/read_write.c:1309 [inline] __x64_sys_sendfile64+0x1cf/0x210 fs/read_write.c:1309 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:51 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x35/0x80 arch/x86/entry/common.c:81 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x6e/0xd8

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 3.16.44 before 3.17; from 3.18.107 before 3.19; from 4.4.129 before 4.5; from 4.9.14 before 4.10; from 4.10.2 before 4.11; 4.11 — fixed in 3.17, 3.19, 4.10, 4.11, 4.5, 6.19

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 3.17, 3.19, 4.10, 4.11. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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