In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: validate donor file superblock early in EXT4_IOC_MOVE_EXT Reject the EXT4_IOC_MOVE_EXT ioctl early if the donor file does not belong to the same superblock as the original file. Currently, this validation is performed inside ext4_move_extents() by mext_check_validity(), but only after lock_two_nondirectories() has already acquired the inode locks. When the donor fd refers to a file on a different filesystem (e.g., overlayfs), this late validation creates a circular lock dependency: CPU0 (overlayfs write) CPU1 (ext4 ioctl) ---- ---- inode_lock(ovl_inode) mnt_want_write_file(filp) sb_start_write(ext4_sb) [sb_writers] backing_file_write_iter() vfs_iter_write(real_file) file_start_write(real_file) sb_start_write(ext4_sb) [blocked by freeze] lock_two_nondirectories() inode_lock(ovl_inode) [blocked] With a concurrent freeze operation holding sb_writers write side, this forms a deadlock cycle: CPU0 waits for freeze to complete, freeze waits for CPU1's sb_writers reader to exit, CPU1 waits for CPU0's inode lock. Since EXT4_IOC_MOVE_EXT exchanges physical extents between two files, it fundamentally requires both files to reside on the same ext4 filesystem. Moving the superblock check before any lock acquisition is both semantically correct and eliminates the circular dependency by ensuring that cross-filesystem donor fds are rejected before sb_writers or inode locks are taken.
History

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 17:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-617

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 06:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: validate donor file superblock early in EXT4_IOC_MOVE_EXT Reject the EXT4_IOC_MOVE_EXT ioctl early if the donor file does not belong to the same superblock as the original file. Currently, this validation is performed inside ext4_move_extents() by mext_check_validity(), but only after lock_two_nondirectories() has already acquired the inode locks. When the donor fd refers to a file on a different filesystem (e.g., overlayfs), this late validation creates a circular lock dependency: CPU0 (overlayfs write) CPU1 (ext4 ioctl) ---- ---- inode_lock(ovl_inode) mnt_want_write_file(filp) sb_start_write(ext4_sb) [sb_writers] backing_file_write_iter() vfs_iter_write(real_file) file_start_write(real_file) sb_start_write(ext4_sb) [blocked by freeze] lock_two_nondirectories() inode_lock(ovl_inode) [blocked] With a concurrent freeze operation holding sb_writers write side, this forms a deadlock cycle: CPU0 waits for freeze to complete, freeze waits for CPU1's sb_writers reader to exit, CPU1 waits for CPU0's inode lock. Since EXT4_IOC_MOVE_EXT exchanges physical extents between two files, it fundamentally requires both files to reside on the same ext4 filesystem. Moving the superblock check before any lock acquisition is both semantically correct and eliminates the circular dependency by ensuring that cross-filesystem donor fds are rejected before sb_writers or inode locks are taken.
Title ext4: validate donor file superblock early in EXT4_IOC_MOVE_EXT
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References

cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2026-08-15T05:58:07.969Z

Reserved: 2026-08-15T05:44:03.883Z

Link: CVE-2026-74307

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-08-15T06:22:30.500

Modified: 2026-08-15T06:22:30.500

Link: CVE-2026-74307

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-08-15T17:00:12Z