CVE-2025-68264
kernel: ext4: refresh inline data size before write operations
Severity
LowRed Hat Product Security
CVSS 3.1
Review impact separately from score.
Published · December 16, 2025
Updated · June 30, 2026
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ext4: refresh inline data size before write operations
The cached ei->i_inline_size can become stale between the initial size check and when ext4_update_inline_data()/ext4_create_inline_data() use it. Although ext4_get_max_inline_size() reads the correct value at the time of the check, concurrent xattr operations can modify i_inline_size before ext4_write_lock_xattr() is acquired.
This causes ext4_update_inline_data() and ext4_create_inline_data() to work with stale capacity values, leading to a BUG_ON() crash in ext4_write_inline_data():
kernel BUG at fs/ext4/inline.c:1331! BUG_ON(pos + len > EXT4_I(inode)->i_inline_size);
The race window:
- ext4_get_max_inline_size() reads i_inline_size = 60 (correct)
- Size check passes for 50-byte write
- [Another thread adds xattr, i_inline_size changes to 40]
- ext4_write_lock_xattr() acquires lock
- ext4_update_inline_data() uses stale i_inline_size = 60
- Attempts to write 50 bytes but only 40 bytes actually available
- BUG_ON() triggers
Fix this by recalculating i_inline_size via ext4_find_inline_data_nolock() immediately after acquiring xattr_sem. This ensures ext4_update_inline_data() and ext4_create_inline_data() work with current values that are protected from concurrent modifications.
This is similar to commit a54c4613dac1 ("ext4: fix race writing to an inline_data file while its xattrs are changing") which fixed i_inline_off staleness. This patch addresses the related i_inline_size staleness issue.
CVSS score applicability
The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.
Mitigation
No mitigation is specified in collected source.
CVSS / CWE
CVSS 3.1 · 4.7CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CWE-367 · Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition