In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ext4: update orig_path in ext4_find_extent()
In ext4_find_extent(), if the path is not big enough, we free it and set
*orig_path to NULL. But after reallocating and successfully initializing
the path, we don't update *orig_path, in which case the caller gets a
valid path but a NULL ppath, and this may cause a NULL pointer dereference
or a path memory leak. For example:
ext4_split_extent
path = *ppath = 2000
ext4_find_extent
if (depth > path[0].p_maxdepth)
kfree(path = 2000);
*orig_path = path = NULL;
path = kcalloc() = 3000
ext4_split_extent_at(*ppath = NULL)
path = *ppath;
ex = path[depth].p_ext;
// NULL pointer dereference!
==================================================================
BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000010
CPU: 6 UID: 0 PID: 576 Comm: fsstress Not tainted 6.11.0-rc2-dirty #847
RIP: 0010:ext4_split_extent_at+0x6d/0x560
Call Trace:
ext4_split_extent.isra.0+0xcb/0x1b0
ext4_ext_convert_to_initialized+0x168/0x6c0
ext4_ext_handle_unwritten_extents+0x325/0x4d0
ext4_ext_map_blocks+0x520/0xdb0
ext4_map_blocks+0x2b0/0x690
ext4_iomap_begin+0x20e/0x2c0
[...]
==================================================================
Therefore, *orig_path is updated when the extent lookup succeeds, so that
the caller can safely use path or *ppath.
What the EG score is made of (scorer v4.0: the three questions the 0–10 score mixes, published apart · methodology)
The EG score (5.5): severity, escalated by confirmed exploitation. This CVE's 5.5 is its impact severity (EG Severity), not escalated.
- EG Severity
- 5.5 MEDIUMCVSS-B, impact only: no KEV listing, EPSS or EG-KEV tier raises it.GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
- EG Likelihood
- 0.2% within 30 daysSource: FIRST EPSS (model v2026.06.15, score date 2026-10-25). FIRST's exploitation probability, not an EchelonGraph model.
- Confirmed exploitation
- None on record (CISA KEV, EG-KEV Tier 1)Reported apart from the likelihood: an observed fact, not a probability.
- EG Priority
- SSVC Track at medium mission impactTrack at every mission impact level.CISA BOD 26-04: 60 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.Each input and its source, and whom BOD 26-04 binds: the SSVC and BOD 26-04 blocks below.
SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph)Track at every mission impact level.
A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines.
Exploitation none (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE. Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it. CISA's table makes it high when Mission Prevalence is Essential — the vulnerable component "directly provides capabilities that constitute at least one MEF for at least one entity" (MEF: mission essential function) — or when Public Well-Being Impact is Irreversible: "multiple fatalities are likely", the cyber-physical system "is likely lost or destroyed", "extreme or serious externalities" are imposed on other parties, or social systems such as elections or the financial grid "are destabilized and potentially collapse". CISA's decision table
BOD 26-04 (CISA's remediation timeline, Table 1)60 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.
The score's inputs: In CISA KEV no (CISA's KEV catalog) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). Whether your system is publicly exposed is yours to answer. BOD 26-04 binds US Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies; for anyone else it is CISA's published timeline, a reference rather than an obligation. The directive · how EchelonGraph applies it