Linux Kernel up to 5.18.2 EXT4-fs use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.18.2. The impacted element is an unknown function of the component EXT4-fs. The manipulation leads to use after free. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2022-49349. No exploit exists. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.18.2 and classified as critical. This issue affects some unknown processing of the component EXT4-fs. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: fix use-after-free in ext4_rename_dir_prepare We got issue as follows: EXT4-fs (loop0): mounted filesystem without journal. Opts: ,errors=continue ext4_get_first_dir_block: bh->b_data=0xffff88810bee6000 len=34478 ext4_get_first_dir_block: *parent_de=0xffff88810beee6ae bh->b_data=0xffff88810bee6000 ext4_rename_dir_prepare: [1] parent_de=0xffff88810beee6ae ================================================================== BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in ext4_rename_dir_prepare+0x152/0x220 Read of size 4 at addr ffff88810beee6ae by task rep/1895 CPU: 13 PID: 1895 Comm: rep Not tainted 5.10.0+ #241 Call Trace: dump_stack+0xbe/0xf9 print_address_description.constprop.0+0x1e/0x220 kasan_report.cold+0x37/0x7f ext4_rename_dir_prepare+0x152/0x220 ext4_rename+0xf44/0x1ad0 ext4_rename2+0x11c/0x170 vfs_rename+0xa84/0x1440 do_renameat2+0x683/0x8f0 __x64_sys_renameat+0x53/0x60 do_syscall_64+0x33/0x40 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xa9 RIP: 0033:0x7f45a6fc41c9 RSP: 002b:00007ffc5a470218 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000108 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: 00007f45a6fc41c9 RDX: 0000000000000005 RSI: 0000000020000180 RDI: 0000000000000005 RBP: 00007ffc5a470240 R08: 00007ffc5a470160 R09: 0000000020000080 R10: 00000000200001c0 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 0000000000400bb0 R13: 00007ffc5a470320 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 0000000000000000 The buggy address belongs to the page: page:00000000440015ce refcount:0 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000 index:0x1 pfn:0x10beee flags: 0x200000000000000() raw: 0200000000000000 ffffea00043ff4c8 ffffea0004325608 0000000000000000 raw: 0000000000000001 0000000000000000 00000000ffffffff 0000000000000000 page dumped because: kasan: bad access detected Memory state around the buggy address: ffff88810beee580: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ffff88810beee600: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff >ffff88810beee680: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ^ ffff88810beee700: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ffff88810beee780: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ================================================================== Disabling lock debugging due to kernel taint ext4_rename_dir_prepare: [2] parent_de->inode=3537895424 ext4_rename_dir_prepare: [3] dir=0xffff888124170140 ext4_rename_dir_prepare: [4] ino=2 ext4_rename_dir_prepare: ent->dir->i_ino=2 parent=-757071872 Reason is first directory entry which 'rec_len' is 34478, then will get illegal parent entry. Now, we do not check directory entry after read directory block in 'ext4_get_first_dir_block'. To solve this issue, check directory entry in 'ext4_get_first_dir_block'. [ Trigger an ext4_error() instead of just warning if the directory is missing a '.' or '..' entry. Also make sure we return an error code if the file system is corrupted. -TYT ]

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2022-49349 since 02/26/2025. The exploitation is known to be easy. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 06/12/2025).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 238226 (EulerOS 2.0 SP13 : kernel (EulerOS-SA-2025-1635)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 4.9.318, 4.14.283, 4.19.247, 5.4.198, 5.10.121, 5.15.46, 5.17.14 or 5.18.3 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 1a3a15bf6f9963d755270cbdb282863b84839195/97f802a652a749422dede32071d29a53cf4bd034/10801095224de0d0ab06ae60698680c1f883a3ae/eaecf7ebfd5dd09038a80b14be46b844f54cfc5c/dd887f83ea54aea5b780a84527e23ab95f777fed/364380c00912bed9b5d99eb485018360b0ecf64f/0ff38b99fa075ddd246487a28cb9af049f4ceef1/4a2bea60cf7ff957b3eda0b17750d483876a02fa/0be698ecbe4471fcad80e81ec6a05001421041b3 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (238226). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 4.9.317
• 4.14.282
• 4.19.246
• 5.4.197
• 5.10.120
• 5.15.0
• 5.15.1
• 5.15.2
• 5.15.3
• 5.15.4
• 5.15.5
• 5.15.6
• 5.15.7
• 5.15.8
• 5.15.9
• 5.15.10
• 5.15.11
• 5.15.12
• 5.15.13
• 5.15.14
• 5.15.15
• 5.15.16
• 5.15.17
• 5.15.18
• 5.15.19
• 5.15.20
• 5.15.21
• 5.15.22
• 5.15.23
• 5.15.24
• 5.15.25
• 5.15.26
• 5.15.27
• 5.15.28
• 5.15.29
• 5.15.30
• 5.15.31
• 5.15.32
• 5.15.33
• 5.15.34
• 5.15.35
• 5.15.36
• 5.15.37
• 5.15.38
• 5.15.39
• 5.15.40
• 5.15.41
• 5.15.42
• 5.15.43
• 5.15.44
• 5.15.45
• 5.17.0
• 5.17.1
• 5.17.2
• 5.17.3
• 5.17.4
• 5.17.5
• 5.17.6
• 5.17.7
• 5.17.8
• 5.17.9
• 5.17.10
• 5.17.11
• 5.17.12
• 5.17.13
• 5.18.0
• 5.18.1
• 5.18.2

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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CVSSv4info

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CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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