Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2022-49708

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-26
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.3 / 3.11 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: fix bug_on ext4_mb_use_inode_pa Hulk Robot reported a BUG_ON: ================================================================== kernel BUG at fs/ext4/mballoc.c:3211! [...] RIP: 0010:ext4_mb_mark_diskspace_used.cold+0x85/0x136f [...] Call Trace: ext4_mb_new_blocks+0x9df/0x5d30 ext4_ext_map_blocks+0x1803/0x4d80 ext4_map_blocks+0x3a4/0x1a10 ext4_writepages+0x126d/0x2c30 do_writepages+0x7f/0x1b0 __filemap_fdatawrite_range+0x285/0x3b0 file_write_and_wait_range+0xb1/0x140 ext4_sync_file+0x1aa/0xca0 vfs_fsync_range+0xfb/0x260 do_fsync+0x48/0xa0 [...] ================================================================== Above issue may happen as follows: ------------------------------------- do_fsync vfs_fsync_range ext4_sync_file file_write_and_wait_range __filemap_fdatawrite_range do_writepages ext4_writepages mpage_map_and_submit_extent mpage_map_one_extent ext4_map_blocks ext4_mb_new_blocks ext4_mb_normalize_request >>> start + size <= ac->ac_o_ex.fe_logical ext4_mb_regular_allocator ext4_mb_simple_scan_group ext4_mb_use_best_found ext4_mb_new_preallocation ext4_mb_new_inode_pa ext4_mb_use_inode_pa >>> set ac->ac_b_ex.fe_len <= 0 ext4_mb_mark_diskspace_used >>> BUG_ON(ac->ac_b_ex.fe_len <= 0); we can easily reproduce this problem with the following commands: `fallocate -l100M disk` `mkfs.ext4 -b 1024 -g 256 disk` `mount disk /mnt` `fsstress -d /mnt -l 0 -n 1000 -p 1` The size must be smaller than or equal to EXT4_BLOCKS_PER_GROUP. Therefore, "start + size <= ac->ac_o_ex.fe_logical" may occur when the size is truncated. So start should be the start position of the group where ac_o_ex.fe_logical is located after alignment. In addition, when the value of fe_logical or EXT4_BLOCKS_PER_GROUP is very large, the value calculated by start_off is more accurate.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-617

Attacker-controllable input can reach an assertion that aborts the process when it fails, so a check meant for debugging becomes a denial-of-service in production. A single crafted request takes the service down. The fix is to handle unexpected input gracefully on reachable paths rather than asserting on it.

General guidance for the reachable assertion class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 3.2.89, < 3.3>= 3.10.107, < 3.11>= 3.12.72, < 3.13>= 3.16.44, < 3.17>= 4.1.40, < 4.2>= 4.4.53, < 4.5>= 4.9.14, < 4.9.320>= 4.10.2, < 4.14.285>= 4.15, < 4.19.249>= 4.20, < 5.4.200>= 5.5, < 5.10.124>= 5.11, < 5.15.49

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 3.3 / 3.11 / 3.13 or later
Fixed in 3.33.113.13
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to the next stable kernel release in the affected branch (3.3+, 3.11+, 3.13+, or 3.17+)

  1. 1. Identify the currently running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. 2. Check if the system is running any of the affected versions: 3.2.89+, 3.10.107+, 3.12.72+, or 3.16.44+
  3. 3. For kernel 3.2.x: upgrade to kernel 3.3 or later
  4. 4. For kernel 3.10.x: upgrade to kernel 3.11 or later
  5. 5. For kernel 3.12.x: upgrade to kernel 3.13 or later
  6. 6. For kernel 3.16.x: upgrade to kernel 3.17 or later
  7. 7. Alternatively, apply the vendor patch from commit 5707d721d1819db57dba57b1d4623034fcb32047 to the ext4/mballoc.c file
  8. 8. Rebuild and reboot into the patched kernel
Caveat Kernel upgrades may introduce compatibility changes with userspace tools or hardware drivers; ensure system compatibility before upgrading

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,600. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
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Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-49708 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-49708 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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