Vulnerability · Published Dec 9, 2025 · Assigned by Linux

CVE-2022-50668ext4: fix deadlock due to mbcache entry corruption

High 7.5

In plain English

A high-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 0.8% (higher than 57% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS 3.1)7.5High
Exploit odds (30 days)0.8%top 43.0% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsnot in CISA KEV
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: fix deadlock due to mbcache entry corruption When manipulating xattr blocks, we can deadlock infinitely looping inside ext4_xattr_block_set() where we constantly keep finding xattr block for reuse in mbcache but we are unable to reuse it because its reference count is too big. This happens because cache entry for the xattr block is marked as reusable (e_reusable set) although its reference count is too big. When this inconsistency happens, this inconsistent state is kept indefinitely and so ext4_xattr_block_set() keeps retrying indefinitely. The inconsistent state is caused by non-atomic update of e_reusable bit. e_reusable is part of a bitfield and e_reusable update can race with update of e_referenced bit in the same bitfield resulting in loss of one of the updates. Fix the problem by using atomic bitops instead. This bug has been around for many years, but it became *much* easier to hit after commit 65f8b80053a1 ("ext4: fix race when reusing xattr blocks").

Affected packages & fixed versions

EcosystemPackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian:12linux6.1.4-1DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50668
Debian:13linux6.1.4-1DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50668
Debian:14linux6.1.4-1DEBIAN-CVE-2022-50668
Rocky Linux:8kernel0:4.18.0-553.123.1.el8_10.cloud.0.1RXSA-2024:3138
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux5.15.0-69.76UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-allwinner-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws5.15.0-1033.37UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure5.15.0-1035.42UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde5.15.0-1035.42.1UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp5.15.0-1031.38UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gke5.15.0-1030.35UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gkeop5.15.0-1017.22UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-ibm5.15.0-1027.30UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-intel-iot-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-intel-iotg5.15.0-1027.32UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-kvm5.15.0-1030.35UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency5.15.0-69.76UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia5.15.0-1023.23UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-5.17no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.0no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.1no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.8no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oracle5.15.0-1032.38UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oracle-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-raspi5.15.0-1026.28UBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-raspi-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscvno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-riscvno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscv-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-riscv-6.14no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscv-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2022-50668

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
Linux Linux 6048c64b26097a0ffbd966866b599f990e674e9b – before efaa0ca678f56d47316a08030b2515678cebbc506048c64b26097a0ffbd966866b599f990e674e9b – before af53065276376750dfac35a7248af18806404c5d6048c64b26097a0ffbd966866b599f990e674e9b – before 1be16a0c2f10186df505e28b0cc92d7f3366e2a86048c64b26097a0ffbd966866b599f990e674e9b – before 5bc0b2fda4b47c86278f7c6d30c211f425bf51cf6048c64b26097a0ffbd966866b599f990e674e9b – before 127b80cefb941a81255c72f11081123f3a7053696048c64b26097a0ffbd966866b599f990e674e9b – before cc1538c693d25e282bed8c54b65c914a04023a786048c64b26097a0ffbd966866b599f990e674e9b – before a44e84a9b7764c72896f7241a0ec9ac7e7ef38dd
Linux Linux 4.6

References