CVE-2026-98975
xfs: stop exchanging reflink flags when exchanging mappings
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack conditions and impact
Derived from the CNA (via NVD) CVSS 3.1 vector| Metric | Value | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Attack vector AV | L | Local |
| Attack complexity AC | L | Low (easy) |
| Privileges required PR | L | Regular user |
| User interaction UI | N | None |
| Scope S | U | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality C | H | High |
| Integrity I | H | High |
| Availability A | H | High |
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xfs: stop exchanging reflink flags when exchanging mappings When an exchange covers both files from offset 0 to i_disk_size, xmi_can_exchange_reflink_flags() assumes every mapping moved and hands the reflink flag over to the other file. That assumption is wrong. A file can still own shared blocks past i_disk_size, e.g. after EXCHANGE_RANGE_TO_EOF sets a smaller size without unmapping anything. The flag is cleared anyway, and the next write to such a block happens in place instead of CoW, corrupting the other file that shares it. Commit a23eca88448e ("xfs: fix exchange-range reflink flag clearing issue with INO1_WRITTEN") fixed one instance of this. Rather than add another special case, stop moving the flags. xfs_exchmaps_ensure_reflink() already sets the flag on both inodes before the exchange, so both just keep it. Nothing sets CLEAR_INO{1,2}_REFLINK anymore. Intents logged by older kernels may still carry them; recovery already masks them off, so they stay in the log format mask and are ignored. XFS_IOC_SWAPEXT has the same problem: it moves the reflink flag from one inode to the other along with the extents. Just removing that is not enough here: the exchange path flags both inodes up front in xfs_exchmaps_ensure_reflink(), but swapext has no such step, so the inode receiving the shared extents would be left without the flag. Set it on both inodes instead, and make sure both have a CoW fork, since an inode with the reflink flag is expected to have one. The flag now stays until FALLOC_FL_UNSHARE_RANGE, xfs_scrub, or a truncate to zero removes it.
CVSS assessments
| Provider | Version | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVD / 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Secondary) | 3.1 | 7.8 HIGH | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| CNA / Linux | 3.1 | 7.8 HIGH | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
Affected products and packages
CNA (CVE.org)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | affected: f0bc4d134b46607967bda1205ce3226a1bd95f42 … < 1fa2f3a7ef7ee0f2503a4b0afe24bc8c9d0820be affected: f0bc4d134b46607967bda1205ce3226a1bd95f42 … < 7d3b9b2c9dc57f93f36c716ab752548cb4db9900 affected: f0bc4d134b46607967bda1205ce3226a1bd95f42 … < 4756c94260e69ce42612b8220c3614f02f7a11d5 affected: f0bc4d134b46607967bda1205ce3226a1bd95f42 … < d84d6c1a7f1e2de9e601703a326a4c1b7b421943 default: unaffected |
| Linux | Linux | affected: 4.9 unaffected: 0 … < 4.9 unaffected: 6.12.114 … <= 6.12.* unaffected: 6.18.57 … <= 6.18.* unaffected: 7.2.11 … <= 7.2.* unaffected: 7.3 … <= * default: affected |
Open-source packages (GitHub Advisory / OSV)
xfs: stop exchanging reflink flags when exchanging mappings
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| >= f0bc4d134b46607967bda1205ce3226a1bd95f42, < 1fa2f3a7ef7ee0f2503a4b0afe24bc8c9d0820be; < 7d3b9b2c9dc57f93f36c716ab752548cb4db9900; < 4756c94260e69ce42612b8220c3614f02f7a11d5; < d84d6c1a7f1e2de9e601703a326a4c1b7b421943 | 1fa2f3a7ef7ee0f2503a4b0afe24bc8c9d0820be, 7d3b9b2c9dc57f93f36c716ab752548cb4db9900, 4756c94260e69ce42612b8220c3614f02f7a11d5, d84d6c1a7f1e2de9e601703a326a4c1b7b421943 | ||
| Linux | Kernel | >= 4.9.0, < 6.12.114; >= 6.13.0, < 6.18.57; >= 6.19.0, < 7.2.11 | 6.12.114, 6.18.57, 7.2.11 |
Linux distribution status
References (7)
- https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git OSV
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1fa2f3a7ef7ee0f2503a4b0afe24bc8c9d0820be NVD, CNA, OSV
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4756c94260e69ce42612b8220c3614f02f7a11d5 NVD, CNA, OSV
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7d3b9b2c9dc57f93f36c716ab752548cb4db9900 NVD, CNA, OSV
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d84d6c1a7f1e2de9e601703a326a4c1b7b421943 NVD, CNA, OSV
- https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/98xxx/CVE-2026-98975.json OSV
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98975 OSV