In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ext2: reject inodes with zero i_nlink and valid mode in ext2_iget()
ext2_iget() already rejects inodes with i_nlink == 0 when i_mode is
zero or i_dtime is set, treating them as deleted. However, the case of
i_nlink == 0 with a non-zero mode and zero dtime slips through. Since
ext2 has no orphan list, such a combination can only result from
filesystem corruption - a legitimate inode deletion always sets either
i_dtime or clears i_mode before freeing the inode.
A crafted image can exploit this gap to present such an inode to the
VFS, which then triggers WARN_ON inside drop_nlink() (fs/inode.c) via
ext2_unlink(), ext2_rename() and ext2_rmdir():
WARNING: CPU: 3 PID: 609 at fs/inode.c:336 drop_nlink+0xad/0xd0 fs/inode.c:336
CPU: 3 UID: 0 PID: 609 Comm: syz-executor Not tainted 6.12.77+ #1
Call Trace:
<TASK>
inode_dec_link_count include/linux/fs.h:2518 [inline]
ext2_unlink+0x26c/0x300 fs/ext2/namei.c:295
vfs_unlink+0x2fc/0x9b0 fs/namei.c:4477
do_unlinkat+0x53e/0x730 fs/namei.c:4541
__x64_sys_unlink+0xc6/0x110 fs/namei.c:4587
do_syscall_64+0xf5/0x220 arch/x86/entry/common.c:78
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f
</TASK>
WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 646 at fs/inode.c:336 drop_nlink+0xad/0xd0 fs/inode.c:336
CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 646 Comm: syz.0.17 Not tainted 6.12.77+ #1
Call Trace:
<TASK>
inode_dec_link_count include/linux/fs.h:2518 [inline]
ext2_rename+0x35e/0x850 fs/ext2/namei.c:374
vfs_rename+0xf2f/0x2060 fs/namei.c:5021
do_renameat2+0xbe2/0xd50 fs/namei.c:5178
__x64_sys_rename+0x7e/0xa0 fs/namei.c:5223
do_syscall_64+0xf5/0x220 arch/x86/entry/common.c:78
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f
</TASK>
WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 634 at fs/inode.c:336 drop_nlink+0xad/0xd0 fs/inode.c:336
CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 634 Comm: syz-executor Not tainted 6.12.77+ #1
Call Trace:
<TASK>
inode_dec_link_count include/linux/fs.h:2518 [inline]
ext2_rmdir+0xca/0x110 fs/ext2/namei.c:311
vfs_rmdir+0x204/0x690 fs/namei.c:4348
do_rmdir+0x372/0x3e0 fs/namei.c:4407
__x64_sys_unlinkat+0xf0/0x130 fs/namei.c:4577
do_syscall_64+0xf5/0x220 arch/x86/entry/common.c:78
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f
</TASK>
Extend the existing i_nlink == 0 check to also catch this case,
reporting the corruption via ext2_error() and returning -EFSCORRUPTED.
This rejects the inode at load time and prevents it from reaching any
of the namei.c paths.
Found by Linux Verification Center (linuxtesting.org) with Syzkaller.
References
Configurations
Configuration 1 (hide)
|
History
16 Jun 2026, 15:26
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| References | () https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1b80cf48bcf0e1937af9cd6c7beb188762bbf7c5 - Patch | |
| References | () https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/25947cc5b2374cd5bf627fe3141496444260d04f - Patch | |
| References | () https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2dde6377ab2e46bb80cf066c659ef016f3ad7a9b - Patch | |
| References | () https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/32e0b925572686399243834ec99e2a9d85c62eae - Patch | |
| References | () https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/470264bbec499e276a89a6431144ae58f411ea4d - Patch | |
| References | () https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9e2d67fb2b73eeff8b601e26b332128eae8147bb - Patch | |
| References | () https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a69a0c5156b6f0092b9fcf44517f5831a962de2d - Patch | |
| References | () https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d3af04a43db86379df7438bf8bade71685b8a239 - Patch | |
| CWE | NVD-CWE-noinfo | |
| First Time |
Linux linux Kernel
Linux |
|
| CPE | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.12:-:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.12:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.12:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.12:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.12:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* |
|
| CVSS |
v2 : v3 : |
v2 : unknown
v3 : 5.5 |
01 Jun 2026, 17:17
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| References |
|
27 May 2026, 14:17
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| New CVE |
Information
Published : 2026-05-27 14:17
Updated : 2026-06-17 10:52
NVD link : CVE-2026-46002
Mitre link : CVE-2026-46002
CVE.ORG link : CVE-2026-46002
JSON object : View
Products Affected
linux
- linux_kernel
CWE
