In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ext4: fix double brelse() the buffer of the extents path
In ext4_ext_try_to_merge_up(), set path[1].p_bh to NULL after it has been
released, otherwise it may be released twice. An example of what triggers
this is as follows:
split2 map split1
|--------|-------|--------|
ext4_ext_map_blocks
ext4_ext_handle_unwritten_extents
ext4_split_convert_extents
// path->p_depth == 0
ext4_split_extent
// 1. do split1
ext4_split_extent_at
|ext4_ext_insert_extent
| ext4_ext_create_new_leaf
| ext4_ext_grow_indepth
| le16_add_cpu(&neh->eh_depth, 1)
| ext4_find_extent
| // return -ENOMEM
|// get error and try zeroout
|path = ext4_find_extent
| path->p_depth = 1
|ext4_ext_try_to_merge
| ext4_ext_try_to_merge_up
| path->p_depth = 0
| brelse(path[1].p_bh) ---> not set to NULL here
|// zeroout success
// 2. update path
ext4_find_extent
// 3. do split2
ext4_split_extent_at
ext4_ext_insert_extent
ext4_ext_create_new_leaf
ext4_ext_grow_indepth
le16_add_cpu(&neh->eh_depth, 1)
ext4_find_extent
path[0].p_bh = NULL;
path->p_depth = 1
read_extent_tree_block ---> return err
// path[1].p_bh is still the old value
ext4_free_ext_path
ext4_ext_drop_refs
// path->p_depth == 1
brelse(path[1].p_bh) ---> brelse a buffer twice
Finally got the following WARRNING when removing the buffer from lru:
============================================
VFS: brelse: Trying to free free buffer
WARNING: CPU: 2 PID: 72 at fs/buffer.c:1241 __brelse+0x58/0x90
CPU: 2 PID: 72 Comm: kworker/u19:1 Not tainted 6.9.0-dirty #716
RIP: 0010:__brelse+0x58/0x90
Call Trace:
__find_get_block+0x6e7/0x810
bdev_getblk+0x2b/0x480
__ext4_get_inode_loc+0x48a/0x1240
ext4_get_inode_loc+0xb2/0x150
ext4_reserve_inode_write+0xb7/0x230
__ext4_mark_inode_dirty+0x144/0x6a0
ext4_ext_insert_extent+0x9c8/0x3230
ext4_ext_map_blocks+0xf45/0x2dc0
ext4_map_blocks+0x724/0x1700
ext4_do_writepages+0x12d6/0x2a70
[...]
============================================
What the EG score is made of (scorer v4.0: the three questions the 0–10 score mixes, published apart · methodology)
The EG score (7.8): severity, escalated by confirmed exploitation. This CVE's 7.8 is its impact severity (EG Severity), not escalated.
- EG Severity
- 7.8 HIGHCVSS-B, impact only: no KEV listing, EPSS or EG-KEV tier raises it.GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
- EG Likelihood
- 0.3% within 30 daysSource: FIRST EPSS (model v2026.06.15, score date 2026-10-27). 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