CVE-2022-50428: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: fix off-by-one errors in fast-commit block filling Due to several differen...

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: fix off-by-one errors in fast-commit block filling Due to several different off-by-one errors, or perhaps due to a late change in design that wasn't fully reflected in the code that was actually merged, there are several very strange constraints on how fast-commit blocks are filled with tlv entries: - tlvs must start at least 10 bytes before the end of the block, even though the minimum tlv length is 8. Otherwise, the replay code will ignore them. (BUG: ext4_fc_reserve_space() could violate this requirement if called with a len of blocksize - 9 or blocksize - 8. Fortunately, this doesn't seem to happen currently.) - tlvs must end at least 1 byte before the end of the block. Otherwise the replay code will consider them to be invalid. This quirk contributed to a bug (fixed by an earlier commit) where uninitialized memory was being leaked to disk in the last byte of blocks. Also, strangely these constraints don't apply to the replay code in e2fsprogs, which will accept any tlvs in the blocks (with no bounds checks at all, but that is a separate issue...). Given that this all seems to be a bug, let's fix it by just filling blocks with tlv entries in the natural way. Note that old kernels will be unable to replay fast-commit journals created by kernels that have this commit.

Metrics

CVSS 3.1

5.5/10

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS Probability

0.14%

3.9th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Weakness Enumeration

CWE-193

Affected Software

Vendor	Product	Versions
Linux	Linux Kernel	>= 5.10, < 5.15.87
Linux	Linux Kernel	>= 5.16, < 6.0.18
Linux	Linux Kernel	>= 6.1, < 6.1.4

References

Timeline

Published: Oct 1, 2025
Last Modified: Jun 17, 2026
Status: Analyzed

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2022-50428?

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: fix off-by-one errors in fast-commit block filling Due to several different off-by-one errors, or perhaps due to a late change in design that wasn't fully reflected in the code that was actually merged, there are several very strange constraints on how fast-commit blocks are filled with tlv entries: - tlvs must start at least 10 bytes before the end of the block, even though the minimum tlv length is 8. Otherwise, the replay code will ignore them. (BUG: ext4_fc_reserve_space() could violate this requirement if called with a len of blocksize - 9 or blocksize - 8. Fortunately, this doesn't seem to happen currently.) - tlvs must end at least 1 byte before the end of the block. Otherwise the replay code will consider them to be invalid. This quirk contributed to a bug (fixed by an earlier commit) where uninitialized memory was being leaked to disk in the last byte of blocks. Also, strangely these constraints don't apply to the replay code in e2fsprogs, which will accept any tlvs in the blocks (with no bounds checks at all, but that is a separate issue...). Given that this all seems to be a bug, let's fix it by just filling blocks with tlv entries in the natural way. Note that old kernels will be unable to replay fast-commit journals created by kernels that have this commit.

How severe is CVE-2022-50428?

CVE-2022-50428 has a CVSS score of 5.5/10 (MEDIUM severity). The EPSS model estimates a 0.14% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

How do I fix CVE-2022-50428?

Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.