ext4: guard against EA inode refcount underflow in xattr update
syzkaller found a path where ext4_xattr_inode_update_ref() reads an EA
inode refcount that is already <= 0 and then applies ref_change (often
-1). That lets the refcount underflow and we proceed with a bogus value,
triggering errors like:
EXT4-fs error: EA inode <n> ref underflow: ref_count=-1 ref_change=-1
EXT4-fs warning: ea_inode dec ref err=-117
Make the invariant explicit: if the current refcount is non-positive,
treat this as on-disk corruption, emit ext4_error_inode(), and fail the
operation with -EFSCORRUPTED instead of updating the refcount. Delete the
WARN_ONCE() as negative refcounts are now impossible; keep error reporting
in ext4_error_inode().
This prevents the underflow and the follow-on orphan/cleanup churn.
Analysis
Analysis and contextual insights are available on OpenCVE Cloud.
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
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| Linux | Linux | unaffected |
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| Linux | Linux | affected |
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No data.
No data.
| Vendor | Product | Confidence | Versions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux Kernel | — | — |
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No vendor fix or workaround currently provided.
Additional remediation guidance may be available on OpenCVE Cloud.
Tracking
Sign in to view the affected projects.
| Source | ID | Title |
|---|---|---|
 Debian DLA |
DLA-4379-1 | linux-6.1 security update |
| Debian DLA |
DLA-4404-1 | linux security update |
Mon, 01 Dec 2025 06:30:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| CPEs | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
Thu, 13 Nov 2025 12:15:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| References |
| |
| Metrics |
threat_severity
|
cvssV3_1
|
Thu, 13 Nov 2025 10:00:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| First Time appeared |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| Vendors & Products |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
Wed, 12 Nov 2025 22:15:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: guard against EA inode refcount underflow in xattr update syzkaller found a path where ext4_xattr_inode_update_ref() reads an EA inode refcount that is already <= 0 and then applies ref_change (often -1). That lets the refcount underflow and we proceed with a bogus value, triggering errors like: EXT4-fs error: EA inode <n> ref underflow: ref_count=-1 ref_change=-1 EXT4-fs warning: ea_inode dec ref err=-117 Make the invariant explicit: if the current refcount is non-positive, treat this as on-disk corruption, emit ext4_error_inode(), and fail the operation with -EFSCORRUPTED instead of updating the refcount. Delete the WARN_ONCE() as negative refcounts are now impossible; keep error reporting in ext4_error_inode(). This prevents the underflow and the follow-on orphan/cleanup churn. | |
| Title | ext4: guard against EA inode refcount underflow in xattr update | |
| References |
|
|
MITRE
Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: Linux
Published:
Updated: 2026-05-11T21:44:30.114Z
Reserved: 2025-04-16T07:20:57.177Z
Link: CVE-2025-40190
Vulnrichment
No data.
NVD
Status : Deferred
Published: 2025-11-12T22:15:45.960
Modified: 2026-04-15T00:35:42.020
Link: CVE-2025-40190
Redhat
OpenCVE Enrichment
Updated: 2025-11-13T09:52:30Z
No weakness.