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Linux Kernel EUVDEUVD-2026-45482

| CVE-2026-63816 HIGH
2026-07-19 Linux GHSA-gp48-qw68-qgg5
7.8
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: Linux
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Local access to F2FS volume
  2. Delivery
    Open atomic COW file
  3. Exploit
    Invoke GARBAGE_COLLECT_RANGE ioctl
  4. Execution
    Race concurrent inode eviction
  5. Persist
    Use-after-free on atomic_inode mapping
  6. Impact
    Kernel memory corruption / BUG_ON crash

Vulnerability Assessment

Exploitation Conditions

Exploitation requires local access to a system with an F2FS filesystem mounted and the ability to use F2FS atomic-write (copy-on-write) files plus the F2FS_IOC_GARBAGE_COLLECT_RANGE ioctl - i.e., a cow_inode for which f2fs_is_cow_file() is true. The attacker must win a race between garbage collection (f2fs_gc/gc_data_segment/ra_data_block accessing atomic_inode->i_mapping) and concurrent f2fs_evict_inode() of that atomic_inode. Limiting factors: it is local-only (CVSS AV:L) and needs low privileges (PR:L) - not remote and not unauthenticated; it only affects kernels built with F2FS and running on an F2FS-mounted volume; and success depends on a timing-sensitive race, so it is non-deterministic and may require many attempts. Systems that do not mount F2FS or do not expose it to unprivileged users are not exploitable.

Impact

This is a real but bounded local-only issue. The provided CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H, score 7.8) reflects local access with low privileges and high impact - consistent with a kernel UAF that can corrupt memory. However, several signals point to modest real-world urgency: EPSS is only 0.16% (5th percentile), the CVE is not on CISA KEV, and no public POC is referenced. The bug is a race condition, so reliable exploitation is non-trivial (the CVSS AC:L may understate practical difficulty of winning the eviction/GC race). Note also a conflict in the source tags: the input tags this as 'Information Disclosure,' but the code path describes a use-after-free driving a BUG_ON crash, which is primarily a denial-of-service and potential memory-corruption/privilege-escalation primitive rather than pure info disclosure - verify the impact classification with the kernel advisory. The C:H/I:H/A:H rating is the theoretical ceiling of a UAF; in practice a triggered BUG_ON most reliably yields a crash (DoS), with code-execution being possible but unproven here.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A local user on a system using an F2FS volume opens an atomic (copy-on-write) file and, from a second thread, repeatedly invokes ioctl(F2FS_IOC_GARBAGE_COLLECT_RANGE) while racing inode eviction of the shared atomic_inode. Winning the race causes the GC path to populate a page mapping on a freed inode, corrupting kernel memory and crashing the host (DoS), with a UAF primitive that could theoretically be shaped toward privilege escalation. No public exploit is identified at time of analysis, and the race-condition nature makes reliable exploitation difficult.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
Patch available 0.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Jul 20, 2026

Local privilege-adjacent memory corruption in the Linux kernel's F2FS filesystem allows a low-privileged user with access to an F2FS-mounted volume to trigger a use-after-free on the atomic_inode structure. During garbage collection of an atomic (copy-on-write) file via ioctl(F2FS_IOC_GARBAGE_COLLECT_RANGE), a race with concurrent inode eviction lets the kernel dereference and populate the page mapping of an already-freed atomic_inode, corrupting kernel memory and typically causing a BUG_ON/crash. No public exploit identified at time of analysis; EPSS is low (0.16%, 5th percentile) and this is not on CISA KEV. A vendor fix that takes a reference on fi->atomic_inode before use has been merged upstream.

RemediationAI

Vendor-released patch: upgrade to a fixed stable kernel - 6.12.96, 6.18.39, 7.1.3, or 7.2-rc1 (or later), which correspond to the merged fix that acquires a reference on fi->atomic_inode before dereferencing its i_mapping during GC. The relevant stable commits are 56038756aae68312df00d4aa1d97e51ef3aca725, a805fec35c201c59643ddcde713bce4051c8ee27, a499f77c06050a28c897bdbd86cd2f0721ae0743, and e0288584baa5dc41df4a829a023c4c1b33fe53d7 (https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/56038756aae68312df00d4aa1d97e51ef3aca725). Where immediate patching is not possible, compensating controls include avoiding use of the F2FS filesystem for untrusted local workloads (mount alternative filesystems for user-writable volumes), and restricting local user access to F2FS-mounted volumes since exploitation requires local access to trigger the atomic-write GC path; note these controls reduce functionality for legitimate F2FS/atomic-write users. Because triggering depends on the F2FS_IOC_GARBAGE_COLLECT_RANGE ioctl against COW files, environments that do not expose F2FS to unprivileged users are not practically exposed.

Affected VersionsENISA

Linux 3db1de0e582c358dd013f3703cd55b5fe4076436 <56038756aae68312df00d4aa1d97e51ef3aca725
Linux 3db1de0e582c358dd013f3703cd55b5fe4076436 <e0288584baa5dc41df4a829a023c4c1b33fe53d7
Linux 5.18.18 <5.19
Linux patch: 7.2-rc1
Linux patch: 6.12.96
Linux 3db1de0e582c358dd013f3703cd55b5fe4076436 <a805fec35c201c59643ddcde713bce4051c8ee27
Linux patch: 6.18.39
Linux 5.19
Linux 6db52f1944417c2601182a591a704e2f119c5215
Linux 3db1de0e582c358dd013f3703cd55b5fe4076436 <a499f77c06050a28c897bdbd86cd2f0721ae0743
Linux patch: 7.1.3
Linux patch: 0

Affected Packages

euvd linux fix: 5.19

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

F2FS (Flash-Friendly File System) is a mainline Linux filesystem optimized for NAND/flash storage. It supports atomic writes through a copy-on-write (COW) mechanism: a 'cow_inode' backs staged writes and references a shared atomic_inode whose i_mapping (page cache) holds the atomic data. The bug is a classic use-after-free (CWE-416): the garbage collection path (f2fs_gc -> gc_data_segment -> ra_data_block) reads F2FS_I(inode)->atomic_inode->i_mapping and grabs a cache folio in that mapping, but a concurrent f2fs_evict_inode() can clear FI_COW_FILE, set atomic_inode to NULL, and run truncate_inode_pages_final()/clear_inode() on the atomic_inode. Because GC never took a reference on fi->atomic_inode, it operates on freed memory; the subsequent folio creation adds a page to a mapping under teardown, tripping BUG_ON(atomic_inode->i_data.nrpages) in clear_inode(). The root cause is missing reference counting on a shared inode across the GC and eviction paths.

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Severity by source

Vendor (Linux) PRIMARY 7.8 HIGH
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
vuln.today AI 6.3 MEDIUM

Local, low-priv trigger via ioctl; AC:H because it is a timing race; UAF corrupts memory (I:H) and reliably crashes (A:H), with no direct confidentiality disclosure (C:N).

3.1 AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
4.0 AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
SUSE 6.5 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:H

Primary rating from Vendor (Linux).

CVSS VectorVendor: Linux

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

4
CVSS changed
Jul 20, 2026 - 15:22 NVD
7.8 (HIGH)
Patch available
Jul 19, 2026 - 14:17 EUVD
CVE Published
Jul 19, 2026 - 12:02 cve.org
HIGH 7.8
CVE Published
Jul 19, 2026 - 12:02 cve.org
UNKNOWN (no severity yet)

DescriptionCVE.org

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

f2fs: atomic: fix UAF issue on f2fs_inode_info.atomic_inode

  • ioctl(F2FS_IOC_GARBAGE_COLLECT_RANGE) - shrink
  • f2fs_gc
  • gc_data_segment
  • ra_data_block(cow_inode)
  • mapping = F2FS_I(inode)->atomic_inode->i_mapping

: f2fs_is_cow_file(cow_inode) is true

  • f2fs_evict_inode(atomic_inode)
  • clear_inode_flag(fi->cow_inode, FI_COW_FILE)
  • F2FS_I(fi->cow_inode)->atomic_inode = NULL

...

  • truncate_inode_pages_final(atomic_inode)
  • f2fs_grab_cache_folio(mapping)

: create folio in atomic_inode->mapping

  • clear_inode(atomic_inode)
  • BUG_ON(atomic_inode->i_data.nrpages)

We need to add a reference on fi->atomic_inode before using its mapping field during garbage collection, otherwise, it will cause UAF issue.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

A memory corruption vulnerability in the Linux kernel's F2FS filesystem allows unprivileged local users to crash systems running this filesystem, impacting availability of containerized infrastructure or file-sharing platforms that rely on F2FS storage. The vulnerability requires local system access and specific I/O patterns, limiting exposure primarily to multi-tenant environments. Patched kernel versions are available and should be prioritized for production systems.

Business Impact: Medium
Compensating Controls

Apply vendor patch.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.2%
Top 95% exploitable
Prevalence
Ubiquitous
Linux kernel is core to most server and Android/embedded deployments
Data Quality
6 sources
Confidence: High

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.2%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Defer
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact
Medium

Priority Score

39
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +39
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.

Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: Moderate
Product Status
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 16.0 Affected

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