CVE-2026-63817: f2fs: validate compress cache inode only when enabled

Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.1% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-07-19 · updated 2026-08-17

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: f2fs: validate compress cache inode only when enabled F2FS_COMPRESS_INO() uses NM_I(sbi)->max_nid as the synthetic inode number for the compressed page cache inode. That inode only exists when the compress_cache mount option is enabled. When compress_cache is disabled, max_nid is outside the valid inode range. A corrupted directory entry that points to ino == max_nid should therefore be rejected by f2fs_check_nid_range(). However, is_meta_ino() currently treats F2FS_COMPRESS_INO() as a meta inode unconditionally, so f2fs_iget() bypasses do_read_inode() and its nid range check, and instantiates a fake internal inode instead. Gate the compressed cache inode case on COMPRESS_CACHE, matching f2fs_init_compress_inode(). With compress_cache disabled, ino == max_nid now follows the normal inode path and is rejected as an out-of-range nid.

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 5.13.19 before 5.14; 5.14 — fixed in 5.14, 7.2

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 5.14, 7.2. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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