Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: avoid crash when...
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ext4: avoid crash when inline data creation follows DIO write
When inode is created and written to using direct IO, there is nothing
to clear the EXT4_STATE_MAY_INLINE_DATA flag. Thus when inode gets
truncated later to say 1 byte and written using normal write, we will
try to store the data as inline data. This confuses the code later
because the inode now has both normal block and inline data allocated
and the confusion manifests for example as:
kernel BUG at fs/ext4/inode.c:2721!
invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN
CPU: 0 PID: 359 Comm: repro Not tainted 5.19.0-rc8-00001-g31ba1e3b8305-dirty #15
Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.0-1.fc36 04/01/2014
RIP: 0010:ext4_writepages+0x363d/0x3660
RSP: 0018:ffffc90000ccf260 EFLAGS: 00010293
RAX: ffffffff81e1abcd RBX: 0000008000000000 RCX: ffff88810842a180
RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000008000000000 RDI: 0000000000000000
RBP: ffffc90000ccf650 R08: ffffffff81e17d58 R09: ffffed10222c680b
R10: dfffe910222c680c R11: 1ffff110222c680a R12: ffff888111634128
R13: ffffc90000ccf880 R14: 0000008410000000 R15: 0000000000000001
FS: 00007f72635d2640(0000) GS:ffff88811b000000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
CR2: 0000565243379180 CR3: 000000010aa74000 CR4: 0000000000150eb0
Call Trace:
do_writepages+0x397/0x640
filemap_fdatawrite_wbc+0x151/0x1b0
file_write_and_wait_range+0x1c9/0x2b0
ext4_sync_file+0x19e/0xa00
vfs_fsync_range+0x17b/0x190
ext4_buffered_write_iter+0x488/0x530
ext4_file_write_iter+0x449/0x1b90
vfs_write+0xbcd/0xf40
ksys_write+0x198/0x2c0
__x64_sys_write+0x7b/0x90
do_syscall_64+0x3d/0x90
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd
Fix the problem by clearing EXT4_STATE_MAY_INLINE_DATA when we are doing
direct IO write to a file.
Impact
CVE-2022-50435 has a CVSS score of 5.5 (Medium). The vector is requires local access, low privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. No fixed version is listed yet, so configuration controls and monitoring matter more in the interim.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
Already deployed Kodem?
See it in your environmentNew to Kodem? Get a demo →Remediation advice
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2022-50435? CVE-2022-50435 is a medium-severity security vulnerability. No fixed version is listed yet.
- How severe is CVE-2022-50435? CVE-2022-50435 has a CVSS score of 5.5 (Medium). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2022-50435? No fixed version is listed for CVE-2022-50435 yet. Monitor the advisory for updates and apply mitigations in the interim.
- Is CVE-2022-50435 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2022-50435 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2022-50435 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.