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Response snapshot Oct 30, 2026, 19:11 UTC

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VulnerabilityCVE-2026-45942

Linux kernel: ext4: fix e4b bitmap inconsistency reports

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.

At a glance

Exploited
Not known
Severity
7.8 High (CVSS 3.1)
Chance of exploitation
0.1% in the next 30 days
Sources
1 source

What to do

Check the vendor advisory for affected versions and fixes.

Read NVD CVE-2026-45942 (opens a new tab)

What happened

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

Continue reading

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.

Scores and how they were measured

CVSS base severity

7.8

Version 3.1As of

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Measurement source (opens a new tab)

How bad it is if exploited. Not a prediction of exploitation or proof you are exposed.

EPSS probability

0.1%

Scored Percentile 2.3%

Model and measurement source (opens a new tab)

A model's estimate of exploitation in the next 30 days, not certainty or your own risk.

Related technology

Sources

  1. Primary source

    NVD CVE-2026-45942 (opens a new tab)

    NVD record: description, CVSS (the CNA score is preferred), affected products, and publication date. Not evidence of exploitation.

    Published Checked

  2. Primary source

    NVD CVE API 2.0 (opens a new tab)

    The NVD API page that supplied this CVE record.

    Published Date not suppliedChecked

  3. Primary source

    NVD CVE API 2.0 (opens a new tab)

    The NVD API page that supplied this CVE record.

    Published Date not suppliedChecked

  4. Primary source

    NVD CVE API 2.0 (opens a new tab)

    The NVD API page that supplied this CVE record.

    Published Date not suppliedChecked

  5. Primary source

    FIRST measured EPSS score (opens a new tab)

    Measured EPSS probability and percentile for CVE-2026-45942, scored 2026-10-30. This is a model estimate, not proof of exposure.

    Published Checked

Cite this record

For factual claims, cite the primary sources above; cite KEVWire for its compilation, dates, and classifications.

APA

KEVWire. (2026, October 30). Linux kernel: ext4: fix e4b bitmap inconsistency reports (CVE-2026-45942). https://kevwire.com/record/CVE-2026-45942

MLA

"Linux kernel: ext4: fix e4b bitmap inconsistency reports (CVE-2026-45942)." KEVWire, 30 Oct. 2026, kevwire.com/record/CVE-2026-45942.

Chicago

KEVWire. "Linux kernel: ext4: fix e4b bitmap inconsistency reports (CVE-2026-45942)." Last modified October 30, 2026. https://kevwire.com/record/CVE-2026-45942.

Evidence summary (plain text)

Linux kernel: ext4: fix e4b bitmap inconsistency reports (May 27, 2026).
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.
CVSS 7.8 (version 3.1; evidence as of Oct 30, 2026; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-45942).
EPSS 0.1% for the following 30 days, scored Oct 30, 2026 (https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-45942&date=2026-10-30).
Sources:
NVD CVE-2026-45942: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-45942
NVD CVE API 2.0: https://services.nvd.nist.gov/rest/json/cves/2.0?lastModStartDate=2026-10-30T13:06:45.042Z&lastModEndDate=2026-10-30T14:50:57.069Z&resultsPerPage=500&startIndex=0
NVD CVE API 2.0: https://services.nvd.nist.gov/rest/json/cves/2.0?lastModStartDate=2026-10-30T12:22:16.957Z&lastModEndDate=2026-10-30T14:05:57.373Z&resultsPerPage=500&startIndex=0
NVD CVE API 2.0: https://services.nvd.nist.gov/rest/json/cves/2.0?lastModStartDate=2026-10-30T11:45:59.009Z&lastModEndDate=2026-10-30T13:20:57.281Z&resultsPerPage=500&startIndex=0
FIRST measured EPSS score: https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-45942&date=2026-10-30
Record ID: CVE-2026-45942.
Record origin: Ingested record.
AI evidence: Not assessed.
Known exploitation: Not assessed.
Zero-day status: Not assessed. KEV membership alone does not establish zero-day status.
About this data

This record was ingested from a data source. Retrieved: Oct 30, 2026, 14:52 UTC. Ingestion is not an independent editorial investigation.

NVD status: Undergoing Analysis. Publication in the NVD is not evidence of exploitation.

A CISA KEV listing documents known exploitation, not necessarily a zero-day; absence from the catalog does not prove a vulnerability has never been exploited.

Technology tags indicate possible relevance, not verified exposure. Confirm the affected product, version, and configuration against your own inventory; KEVWire does not scan your systems.

A personal reading checklist on this device, not verified remediation.

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