CVE-2022-50286

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: fix delayed allocation bug in ext4_clu_mapped for bigalloc + inline When converting files with inline data to extents, delayed allocations made on a file system created with both the bigalloc and inline options can result in invalid extent status cache content, incorrect reserved cluster counts, kernel memory leaks, and potential kernel panics. With bigalloc, the code that determines whether a block must be delayed allocated searches the extent tree to see if that block maps to a previously allocated cluster. If not, the block is delayed allocated, and otherwise, it isn't. However, if the inline option is also used, and if the file containing the block is marked as able to store data inline, there isn't a valid extent tree associated with the file. The current code in ext4_clu_mapped() calls ext4_find_extent() to search the non-existent tree for a previously allocated cluster anyway, which typically finds nothing, as desired. However, a side effect of the search can be to cache invalid content from the non-existent tree (garbage) in the extent status tree, including bogus entries in the pending reservation tree. To fix this, avoid searching the extent tree when allocating blocks for bigalloc + inline files that are being converted from inline to extent mapped.

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2025-09-15
Last modified 2025-12-23
CVSS version 3.1
Patch available
Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

5.5

out of 10
Medium
Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Vector string
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 4.19.270, 4.20 and later are affected. Fixed in 4.19.271, 5.4.229, 5.10.163, 5.15.87, 6.0.18, 6.1.4, 6.2 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 4.19.270 ≥ 4.20
Fixed in
✓ 4.19.271 4.19.x ✓ 5.4.229 5.4.x ✓ 5.10.163 5.10.x ✓ 5.15.87 5.15.x ✓ 6.0.18 6.0.x ✓ 6.1.4 6.1.x ✓ 6.2

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2022-50286 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Frequently asked questions

  • What is CVE-2022-50286?

    CVE-2022-50286 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 4.19.270 onward and has been patched in 4.19.271, 5.4.229, 5.10.163 and others. CVE-2022-50286 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • What is the CVSS score for CVE-2022-50286?

    CVE-2022-50286 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H .

  • Is there a patch available for CVE-2022-50286?

    Yes — CVE-2022-50286 has been patched. Fixed versions include 4.19.271, 5.4.229, 5.10.163 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 4.19.270 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2022-50286 actively exploited?

    No — CVE-2022-50286 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.