In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ext4: fix e4b bitmap inconsistency reports
A bitmap inconsistency issue was observed during stress tests under
mixed huge-page workloads. Ext4 reported multiple e4b bitmap check
failures like:
ext4_mb_complex_scan_group:2508: group 350, 8179 free clusters as
per group info. But got 8192 blocks
Analysis and experimentation confirmed that the issue is caused by a
race condition between page migration and bitmap modification. Although
this timing window is extremely narrow, it is still hit in practice:
folio_lock ext4_mb_load_buddy
__migrate_folio
check ref count
folio_mc_copy __filemap_get_folio
folio_try_get(folio)
......
mb_mark_used
ext4_mb_unload_buddy
__folio_migrate_mapping
folio_ref_freeze
folio_unlock
The root cause of this issue is that the fast path of load_buddy only
increments the folio's reference count, which is insufficient to prevent
concurrent folio migration. We observed that the folio migration process
acquires the folio lock. Therefore, we can determine whether to take the
fast path in load_buddy by checking the lock status. If the folio is
locked, we opt for the slow path (which acquires the lock) to close this
concurrency window.
Additionally, this change addresses the following issues:
When the DOUBLE_CHECK macro is enabled to inspect bitmap-related
issues, the following error may be triggered:
corruption in group 324 at byte 784(6272): f in copy != ff on
disk/prealloc
Analysis reveals that this is a false positive. There is a specific race
window where the bitmap and the group descriptor become momentarily
inconsistent, leading to this error report:
ext4_mb_load_buddy ext4_mb_load_buddy
__filemap_get_folio(create|lock)
folio_lock
ext4_mb_init_cache
folio_mark_uptodate
__filemap_get_folio(no lock)
......
mb_mark_used
mb_mark_used_double
mb_cmp_bitmaps
mb_set_bits(e4b->bd_bitmap)
folio_unlock
The original logic assumed that since mb_cmp_bitmaps is called when the
bitmap is newly loaded from disk, the folio lock would be sufficient to
prevent concurrent access. However, this overlooks a specific race
condition: if another process attempts to load buddy and finds the folio
is already in an uptodate state, it will immediately begin using it without
holding folio lock.
ext4: fix e4b bitmap inconsistency reports
A bitmap inconsistency issue was observed during stress tests under
mixed huge-page workloads. Ext4 reported multiple e4b bitmap check
failures like:
ext4_mb_complex_scan_group:2508: group 350, 8179 free clusters as
per group info. But got 8192 blocks
Analysis and experimentation confirmed that the issue is caused by a
race condition between page migration and bitmap modification. Although
this timing window is extremely narrow, it is still hit in practice:
folio_lock ext4_mb_load_buddy
__migrate_folio
check ref count
folio_mc_copy __filemap_get_folio
folio_try_get(folio)
......
mb_mark_used
ext4_mb_unload_buddy
__folio_migrate_mapping
folio_ref_freeze
folio_unlock
The root cause of this issue is that the fast path of load_buddy only
increments the folio's reference count, which is insufficient to prevent
concurrent folio migration. We observed that the folio migration process
acquires the folio lock. Therefore, we can determine whether to take the
fast path in load_buddy by checking the lock status. If the folio is
locked, we opt for the slow path (which acquires the lock) to close this
concurrency window.
Additionally, this change addresses the following issues:
When the DOUBLE_CHECK macro is enabled to inspect bitmap-related
issues, the following error may be triggered:
corruption in group 324 at byte 784(6272): f in copy != ff on
disk/prealloc
Analysis reveals that this is a false positive. There is a specific race
window where the bitmap and the group descriptor become momentarily
inconsistent, leading to this error report:
ext4_mb_load_buddy ext4_mb_load_buddy
__filemap_get_folio(create|lock)
folio_lock
ext4_mb_init_cache
folio_mark_uptodate
__filemap_get_folio(no lock)
......
mb_mark_used
mb_mark_used_double
mb_cmp_bitmaps
mb_set_bits(e4b->bd_bitmap)
folio_unlock
The original logic assumed that since mb_cmp_bitmaps is called when the
bitmap is newly loaded from disk, the folio lock would be sufficient to
prevent concurrent access. However, this overlooks a specific race
condition: if another process attempts to load buddy and finds the folio
is already in an uptodate state, it will immediately begin using it without
holding folio lock.
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | unaffected |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Linux | Linux | affected |
|
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Advisories
No advisories yet.
Fixes
Solution
No solution given by the vendor.
Workaround
No workaround given by the vendor.
References
History
Wed, 27 May 2026 14:15:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: fix e4b bitmap inconsistency reports A bitmap inconsistency issue was observed during stress tests under mixed huge-page workloads. Ext4 reported multiple e4b bitmap check failures like: ext4_mb_complex_scan_group:2508: group 350, 8179 free clusters as per group info. But got 8192 blocks Analysis and experimentation confirmed that the issue is caused by a race condition between page migration and bitmap modification. Although this timing window is extremely narrow, it is still hit in practice: folio_lock ext4_mb_load_buddy __migrate_folio check ref count folio_mc_copy __filemap_get_folio folio_try_get(folio) ...... mb_mark_used ext4_mb_unload_buddy __folio_migrate_mapping folio_ref_freeze folio_unlock The root cause of this issue is that the fast path of load_buddy only increments the folio's reference count, which is insufficient to prevent concurrent folio migration. We observed that the folio migration process acquires the folio lock. Therefore, we can determine whether to take the fast path in load_buddy by checking the lock status. If the folio is locked, we opt for the slow path (which acquires the lock) to close this concurrency window. Additionally, this change addresses the following issues: When the DOUBLE_CHECK macro is enabled to inspect bitmap-related issues, the following error may be triggered: corruption in group 324 at byte 784(6272): f in copy != ff on disk/prealloc Analysis reveals that this is a false positive. There is a specific race window where the bitmap and the group descriptor become momentarily inconsistent, leading to this error report: ext4_mb_load_buddy ext4_mb_load_buddy __filemap_get_folio(create|lock) folio_lock ext4_mb_init_cache folio_mark_uptodate __filemap_get_folio(no lock) ...... mb_mark_used mb_mark_used_double mb_cmp_bitmaps mb_set_bits(e4b->bd_bitmap) folio_unlock The original logic assumed that since mb_cmp_bitmaps is called when the bitmap is newly loaded from disk, the folio lock would be sufficient to prevent concurrent access. However, this overlooks a specific race condition: if another process attempts to load buddy and finds the folio is already in an uptodate state, it will immediately begin using it without holding folio lock. | |
| Title | ext4: fix e4b bitmap inconsistency reports | |
| First Time appeared |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| CPEs | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | |
| Vendors & Products |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| References |
|
|
Projects
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MITRE
Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: Linux
Published:
Updated: 2026-05-27T12:17:57.950Z
Reserved: 2026-05-13T15:03:33.087Z
Link: CVE-2026-45942
Vulnrichment
No data.
NVD
Status : Awaiting Analysis
Published: 2026-05-27T14:17:10.427
Modified: 2026-05-27T14:48:03.013
Link: CVE-2026-45942
Redhat
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OpenCVE Enrichment
No data.
Weaknesses
No weakness.