Linux Kernel up to 7.2.5 ocfs2 ocfs2_xattr_find_entry use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.2.5. It has been classified as very critical. This affects the function ocfs2_xattr_find_entry of the component ocfs2. The manipulation leads to use after free. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-90321. An attack has to be approached locally. There is no exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.2.5 and classified as very critical. This issue affects the function ocfs2_xattr_find_entry of the component ocfs2. 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: ocfs2: validate inline xattrs during inode block validation Patch series "ocfs2: validate xattr entry bounds", v7. This series validates OCFS2 xattr entry name/value bounds when xattr metadata is read and validated, before getxattr() or listxattr() can walk out-of-range entry arrays or offsets from corrupted metadata. This patch (of 2): ocfs2_validate_inode_block() verifies a dinode before OCFS2 users walk metadata from it, but inline xattr metadata is still checked only in operation-specific consumers. The existing ibody lookup helper validates inline header placement and entry count, but inode block validation does not reject entry name/value bounds. Add a flat xattr entry validator and call it from inode block validation for inline xattrs. Keep the operation paths on their existing header/count lookup checks; the full entry bounds check now runs when the inode block is validated at read time. Reject corrupted inline xattr metadata before ocfs2_xattr_ibody_get() or listxattr() can walk past the inline storage. Validation reproduced this kernel report: BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in ocfs2_xattr_find_entry+0x5a/0x170 Read of size 2 at addr ffff8881242a2000 by task python3/529 Call Trace: dump_stack_lvl+0x66/0xa0 print_report+0xce/0x630 kasan_report+0xe0/0x110 ocfs2_xattr_find_entry+0x5a/0x170 ocfs2_xattr_get_nolock+0x20a/0x820 ocfs2_xattr_get+0x10c/0x1e0 __vfs_getxattr+0xe2/0x130 vfs_getxattr+0x185/0x1b0

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-90321 since 09/11/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. Attacking locally is a requirement. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 09/17/2026).

Upgrading to version 7.2.6 or 7.3-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 3fd45b24879fa4885b66a582a6e47eda67f11310/8914a3330b72378136c2c02d6328a826f6abdad7 is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3
• 7.2.4
• 7.2.5

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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