Vulnerability · Published May 1, 2025 · Assigned by Linux

CVE-2022-49850nilfs2: fix deadlock in nilfs_count_free_blocks()

Medium 5.5

In plain English

A medium-severity security flaw in Linux from Linux. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.2% (higher than 6% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS 3.1)5.5Medium
Exploit odds (30 days)0.2%top 94.2% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: none
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nilfs2: fix deadlock in nilfs_count_free_blocks() A semaphore deadlock can occur if nilfs_get_block() detects metadata corruption while locating data blocks and a superblock writeback occurs at the same time: task 1 task 2 ------ ------ * A file operation * nilfs_truncate() nilfs_get_block() down_read(rwsem A) <-- nilfs_bmap_lookup_contig() ... generic_shutdown_super() nilfs_put_super() * Prepare to write superblock * down_write(rwsem B) <-- nilfs_cleanup_super() * Detect b-tree corruption * nilfs_set_log_cursor() nilfs_bmap_convert_error() nilfs_count_free_blocks() __nilfs_error() down_read(rwsem A) <-- nilfs_set_error() down_write(rwsem B) <-- *** DEADLOCK *** Here, nilfs_get_block() readlocks rwsem A (= NILFS_MDT(dat_inode)->mi_sem) and then calls nilfs_bmap_lookup_contig(), but if it fails due to metadata corruption, __nilfs_error() is called from nilfs_bmap_convert_error() inside the lock section. Since __nilfs_error() calls nilfs_set_error() unless the filesystem is read-only and nilfs_set_error() attempts to writelock rwsem B (= nilfs->ns_sem) to write back superblock exclusively, hierarchical lock acquisition occurs in the order rwsem A -> rwsem B. Now, if another task starts updating the superblock, it may writelock rwsem B during the lock sequence above, and can deadlock trying to readlock rwsem A in nilfs_count_free_blocks(). However, there is actually no need to take rwsem A in nilfs_count_free_blocks() because it, within the lock section, only reads a single integer data on a shared struct with nilfs_sufile_get_ncleansegs(). This has been the case after commit aa474a220180 ("nilfs2: add local variable to cache the number of clean segments"), that is, even before this bug was introduced. So, this resolves the deadlock problem by just not taking the semaphore in nilfs_count_free_blocks().

Affected packages & fixed versions

EcosystemPackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian:12linux6.0.10-1DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49850
Debian:13linux6.0.10-1DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49850
Debian:14linux6.0.10-1DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux5.15.0-67.74UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-allwinner-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws5.15.0-1031.35UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure5.15.0-1034.41UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde5.15.0-1034.41.1UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp5.15.0-1030.37UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gke5.15.0-1028.33UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gkeop5.15.0-1016.21UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-ibm5.15.0-1026.29UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-intel-iotg5.15.0-1026.31UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-kvm5.15.0-1029.34UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency5.15.0-67.74UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia5.15.0-1023.23UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-5.17no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.0no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.1no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oracle5.15.0-1030.36UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oracle-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-raspi5.15.0-1025.27UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-raspi-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscvno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscv-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscv-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-49850

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
Linux Linux e828949e5b42bfd234ee537cdb7c5e3a577958a3 – before 3c89ca6d3dfa6c09c515807a7a97a521f5d5147ee828949e5b42bfd234ee537cdb7c5e3a577958a3 – before 8b4506cff6630bb474bb46a2a75c31e533a756bae828949e5b42bfd234ee537cdb7c5e3a577958a3 – before f0cc93080d4c09510b74ecba87fd778cca390bb1e828949e5b42bfd234ee537cdb7c5e3a577958a3 – before 36ff974b0310771417c0be64b64aa221bd70d63de828949e5b42bfd234ee537cdb7c5e3a577958a3 – before 1d4ff73062096c21b47954d2996b4df259777bdae828949e5b42bfd234ee537cdb7c5e3a577958a3 – before abc082aac0d9b6b926038fc3adb7008306581be2e828949e5b42bfd234ee537cdb7c5e3a577958a3 – before cb029b54953420f7a2d65100f1c5107f14411bdce828949e5b42bfd234ee537cdb7c5e3a577958a3 – before 8ac932a4921a96ca52f61935dbba64ea87bbd5dc
Linux Linux 2.6.38

Weakness: CWE-667 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

References