Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2026-43118

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-06
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.18.24 / 6.19.14 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: btrfs: fix zero size inode with non-zero size after log replay When logging that an inode exists, as part of logging a new name or logging new dir entries for a directory, we always set the generation of the logged inode item to 0. This is to signal during log replay (in overwrite_item()), that we should not set the i_size since we only logged that an inode exists, so the i_size of the inode in the subvolume tree must be preserved (as when we log new names or that an inode exists, we don't log extents). This works fine except when we have already logged an inode in full mode or it's the first time we are logging an inode created in a past transaction, that inode has a new i_size of 0 and then we log a new name for the inode (due to a new hardlink or a rename), in which case we log an i_size of 0 for the inode and a generation of 0, which causes the log replay code to not update the inode's i_size to 0 (in overwrite_item()). An example scenario: mkdir /mnt/dir xfs_io -f -c "pwrite 0 64K" /mnt/dir/foo sync xfs_io -c "truncate 0" -c "fsync" /mnt/dir/foo ln /mnt/dir/foo /mnt/dir/bar xfs_io -c "fsync" /mnt/dir <power fail> After log replay the file remains with a size of 64K. This is because when we first log the inode, when we fsync file foo, we log its current i_size of 0, and then when we create a hard link we log again the inode in exists mode (LOG_INODE_EXISTS) but we set a generation of 0 for the inode item we add to the log tree, so during log replay overwrite_item() sees that the generation is 0 and i_size is 0 so we skip updating the inode's i_size from 64K to 0. Fix this by making sure at fill_inode_item() we always log the real generation of the inode if it was logged in the current transaction with the i_size we logged before. Also if an inode created in a previous transaction is logged in exists mode only, make sure we log the i_size stored in the inode item located from the commit root, so that if we log multiple times that the inode exists we get the correct i_size. A test case for fstests will follow soon.

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

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

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:>= 2.6.30, < 6.18.24>= 6.19, < 6.19.14= 7.0

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 6.18.24 / 6.19.14 or later
Fixed in 6.18.246.19.14
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Kernel 6.18.24, 6.19.14, or later (or distribution vendor kernel update containing commit 03e966b63df5b06790310c1faaf3e0cb43adea8b)

  1. Upgrade Linux kernel to version 6.18.24 or later for the 6.18.x stable branch
  2. Alternatively, upgrade to kernel 6.19.14 or later for the 6.19.x stable branch
  3. After kernel upgrade, reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  4. For enterprise distributions, apply the distribution-specific kernel update package when available
Caveat Low risk - this is a btrfs bug fix for data corruption; no breaking API or filesystem changes expected

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

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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

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