5.5

CVE-2026-46002: ext2: reject inodes with zero i_nlink and valid mode in ext2_iget()

Analyzed
AliasesUBUNTU-CVE-2026-46002DEBIAN-CVE-2026-46002
Published 27-05-2026Last modified 14-06-2026

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2026-46002 is a medium (CVSS 5.5) vulnerability in linux. EPSS estimates a 0.12% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 2% of scored vulnerabilities.

Priority
Routine

Not severe (CVSS 5.5, local access); no exploitation reported by the 5 checked sources

Source freshness unavailable

How is this decided?
CVSS score
5.5/10
010
Medium · v3.1 (NVD)
EPSS score
0.12%
0%100%
Low · -0.04 pp in 30 days
KEVNot listedNot listed by any tracked catalog.
RansomwareNot flaggedNo ransomware use recorded.
Public exploits0No public exploits recorded

Advisory lineage

Upstream 0 · Downstream 34 · Related 34
OPENSUSE-SU-2026:10954-1USN-8488-1USN-8488-2USN-8489-1USN-8507-1USN-8567-1

Timeline

  1. 27-05-2026
    PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
  2. 14-06-2026
    Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

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.

CVSS metrics

3 scores · 3 sources · 1 version

EPSS trend

Probability

0.12%

Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days

Percentile

2%

Versus all other CVEs

30-day change

Decrease -0.04 pp

From 0.16% on 04-10-2026

04-10-202603-11-2026

Known exploited

Compare KEV catalogs
CISA KEV

Not in the CISA KEV catalog.

ENISA CNW

Not in the ENISA CNW catalog.

CIRCL

Not in the CIRCL catalog.

Public exploits

0 found

No public exploits indexed.

Weaknesses

CWE · root cause

No weakness data has been published for this record.

Affected systems

Version check

Known conditions: local access, low-privilege account, no user interaction (CVSS vector). Other conditions: not stated in public data.

Ubuntu159 products
  • linuxAll versions (No fix recorded) | < 5.15.0-186.196 | < 6.8.0-136.136 | < 7.0.0-27.27
  • linux-allwinner-5.19All versions (No fix recorded)
  • linux-awsAll versions (No fix recorded) | < 5.15.0-1112.119 | < 6.8.0-1061.64 | < 7.0.0-1008.8
  • linux-aws-5.0All versions (No fix recorded)
  • linux-aws-5.11All versions (No fix recorded)
Linux2 products
  • linux≥ 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2, < 1b80cf48bcf0e1937af9cd6c7beb188762bbf7c5 | ≥ 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2, < 9e2d67fb2b73eeff8b601e26b332128eae8147bb | ≥ 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2, < a69a0c5156b6f0092b9fcf44517f5831a962de2d | ≥ 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2, < 32e0b925572686399243834ec99e2a9d85c62eae | ≥ 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2, < d3af04a43db86379df7438bf8bade71685b8a239 | ≥ 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2, < 2dde6377ab2e46bb80cf066c659ef016f3ad7a9b | ≥ 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2, < 470264bbec499e276a89a6431144ae58f411ea4d | ≥ 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2, < 25947cc5b2374cd5bf627fe3141496444260d04f | 2.6.12
  • linux_kernel≥ 2.6.12.1, < 5.10.258 | ≥ 5.11, < 5.15.209 | ≥ 5.16, < 6.1.175 | ≥ 6.2, < 6.6.140 | ≥ 6.7, < 6.12.86 | ≥ 6.13, < 6.18.27 | ≥ 6.19, < 7.0.4 | 2.6.12 | 2.6.12:rc2 | 2.6.12:rc3 | 2.6.12:rc4 | 2.6.12:rc5
Debian1 product
  • linux< 6.1.176-1 | < 6.12.86-1 | < 7.0.4-1

3 vendors · 162 products

References

46 links
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