CVE-2026-74362

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's ext2 filesystem. When performing write operations on files opened with O_SYNC or O_DSYNC flags, the system call write(2) could incorrectly report success to a local user even if the data synchronization to disk failed. This could lead to data integrity issues, as applications might assume data is safely written when it is not.

A low impact flaw was found in the Linux kernel's ext2 filesystem. When a local user writes to a file opened with the O_SYNC or O_DSYNC flag, ext2_dio_write_iter() silently discards the error returned by generic_write_sync() (and can also lose errors from filemap_write_and_wait_range()), so write(2) may incorrectly report success to userspace even when the data synchronization to disk failed. This can lead to data integrity issues, as applications might assume data is safely written when it is not. The flaw is not network-reachable, does not involve memory corruption or privilege escalation, and requires local write access to an affected ext2 file. Although the assigned Red Hat CVSS 3.1 score is 5.5 (MODERATE), Red Hat assessed the overall impact of this error-handling defect as LOW. Currently shipped Red Hat Enterprise Linux kernel and kernel-rt components and Red Hat In-Vehicle OS kernel components are not affected because the vulnerable code is not present in those builds; the only affected record is the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Extended Lifecycle Support stream, which is out of support scope.

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 for this issue is either not available or the currently available options do not meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base, or stability.