CVE-2022-49174 | ext4: fix ext4_mb_mark_bb() with flex_bg with fast_commit

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: fix ext4_mb_mark_bb() with flex_bg with fast_commit In case of flex_bg feature (which is by default enabled), extents for any given inode might span across blocks from two different block group. ext4_mb_mark_bb() only reads the buffer_head of block bitmap once for the starting block group, but it fails to read it again when the extent length boundary overflows to another block group. Then in this below loop it accesses memory beyond the block group bitmap buffer_head and results into a data abort. for (i = 0; i < clen; i++) if (!mb_test_bit(blkoff + i, bitmap_bh->b_data) == !state) already++; This patch adds this functionality for checking block group boundary in ext4_mb_mark_bb() and update the buffer_head(bitmap_bh) for every different block group. w/o this patch, I was easily able to hit a data access abort using Power platform. <...> [ 74.327662] EXT4-fs error (device loop3): ext4_mb_generate_buddy:1141: group 11, block bitmap and bg descriptor inconsistent: 21248 vs 23294 free clusters [ 74.533214] EXT4-fs (loop3): shut down requested (2) [ 74.536705] Aborting journal on device loop3-8. [ 74.702705] BUG: Unable to handle kernel data access on read at 0xc00000005e980000 [ 74.703727] Faulting instruction address: 0xc0000000007bffb8 cpu 0xd: Vector: 300 (Data Access) at [c000000015db7060] pc: c0000000007bffb8: ext4_mb_mark_bb+0x198/0x5a0 lr: c0000000007bfeec: ext4_mb_mark_bb+0xcc/0x5a0 sp: c000000015db7300 msr: 800000000280b033 dar: c00000005e980000 dsisr: 40000000 current = 0xc000000027af6880 paca = 0xc00000003ffd5200 irqmask: 0x03 irq_happened: 0x01 pid = 5167, comm = mount <...> enter ? for help [c000000015db7380] c000000000782708 ext4_ext_clear_bb+0x378/0x410 [c000000015db7400] c000000000813f14 ext4_fc_replay+0x1794/0x2000 [c000000015db7580] c000000000833f7c do_one_pass+0xe9c/0x12a0 [c000000015db7710] c000000000834504 jbd2_journal_recover+0x184/0x2d0 [c000000015db77c0] c000000000841398 jbd2_journal_load+0x188/0x4a0 [c000000015db7880] c000000000804de8 ext4_fill_super+0x2638/0x3e10 [c000000015db7a40] c0000000005f8404 get_tree_bdev+0x2b4/0x350 [c000000015db7ae0] c0000000007ef058 ext4_get_tree+0x28/0x40 [c000000015db7b00] c0000000005f6344 vfs_get_tree+0x44/0x100 [c000000015db7b70] c00000000063c408 path_mount+0xdd8/0xe70 [c000000015db7c40] c00000000063c8f0 sys_mount+0x450/0x550 [c000000015db7d50] c000000000035770 system_call_exception+0x4a0/0x4e0 [c000000015db7e10] c00000000000c74c system_call_common+0xec/0x250

Published: 2025-02-26 Last update: 2025-10-22 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2022-49174 is rated Low Risk (23.6/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2022-49174

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-05-05 0.05% 0.02% -0.03%
2 2025-12-28 0.03% 0.05% +0.02%
3 2025-12-27 0.03%

Full EPSS history (13 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-49174

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2022-49174

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-49174

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2022-49174 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2022-49174
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-49174
suse medium https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-49174/
ubuntu medium CVE-2022-49174 medium priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1551 status rows across 10 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1145, ignored 150, released 108, not-affected 106, needed 42. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-49174

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-49174

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel < 5.10.110 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.33 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 5.16.19 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.17, < 5.17.2 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2022-49174

cvelogic Threat Intelligence