data built 2026-10-19T13:16:53Z

Look up another CVE · open CVE-2026-63796 in the interactive tracker

CVE-2026-63796

ocfs2: reject oversized group bitmap descriptors

8.8 EPSS 0.5% AV:N

Published 2026-07-19 (3 months ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem fs/ocfs2. Debian urgency: not yet assigned.

What to do, per Debian release

Debian's own status for CVE-2026-63796 in every release this site tracks, and what each one means in practice. Every status below is the one the Debian Security Team publishes for this CVE. source

ReleaseStatus VersionWhat this means
Debian 12bookwormfixed6.1.177-1Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.1.177-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts.
Debian 13trixiefixed6.12.95-1Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.12.95-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts.
Debian 14forkyfixed7.1.3-1Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.3-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts.
Debian unstablesidfixed7.1.3-1Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.3-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts.

The vulnerability

What the bug is

ocfs2_validate_gd_parent() only bounds bg_bits against the parent allocator's chain geometry. A malicious descriptor can still claim a bg_size/bg_bits pair that exceeds the bitmap bytes that physically fit in the group descriptor block, so later bitmap scans and bit updates can run past bg_bitmap. Add a physical-cap check based on ocfs2_group_bitmap_size() for the parent allocator type and reject descriptors whose bg_size or bg_bits exceed that capacity. Keep the existing chain geometry check so both the on-disk bitmap layout and the allocator metadata must agree before the descriptor is used. Validation reproduced this kernel report: KASAN use-after-free in _find_next_bit+0x7f/0xc0 Read of size 8 Call trace: dump_stack_lvl+0x66/0xa0 (?:?) print_report+0xd0/0x630 (?:?) _find_next_bit+0x7f/0xc0 (?:?) srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5 (?:?) __virt_addr_valid+0x188/0x2f0 (?:?) kasan_report+0xe4/0x120 (?:?) ocfs2_find_max_contig_free_bits+0x35/0x70 (fs/ocfs2/suballoc.c:1375) ocfs2_block_group_set_bits+0x472/0x4b0 (fs/ocfs2/suballoc.c:1457) ocfs2_cluster_group_search+0x16b/0x440 (fs/ocfs2/suballoc.c:86) ocfs2_bg_discontig_fix_result+0x1ef/0x230 (fs/ocfs2/suballoc.c:1786) ocfs2_search_chain+0x8f8/0x10a0 (fs/ocfs2/suballoc.c:1886) get_page_from_freelist+0x70e/0x2370 (?:?) lock_release+0xc6/0x290 (?:?) do_raw_spin_unlock+0x9a/0x100 (?:?) kasan_unpoison+0x27/0x60 (?:?) __bfs+0x147/0x240 (?:?) get_page_from_freelist+0x83d/0x2370 (?:?) ocfs2_claim_suballoc_bits+0x38c/0xe70 (fs/ocfs2/suballoc.c:96) sched_domains_numa_masks_clear+0x70/0xd0 (?:?) check_irq_usage+0xe8/0xb70 (?:?) __ocfs2_claim_clusters+0x18d/0x4c0 (fs/ocfs2/suballoc.c:2497) check_path+0x24/0x50 (?:?) rcu_is_watching+0x20/0x50 (?:?) check_prev_add+0xfd/0xd00 (?:?) ocfs2_add_clusters_in_btree+0x17d/0x810 (fs/ocfs2/suballoc.c:?) __folio_batch_add_and_move+0x1f5/0x3d0 (?:?) ocfs2_add_inode_data+0xd9/0x120 (fs/ocfs2/suballoc.c:?) filemap_add_folio+0x105/0x1f0 (?:?) ocfs2_write_begin_nolock+0x29f7/0x2f80 (fs/ocfs2/suballoc.c:3043) ocfs2_read_inode_block+0xb5/0x110 (fs/ocfs2/suballoc.c:?) down_write+0xf5/0x180 (?:?) ocfs2_write_begin+0x180/0x240 (fs/ocfs2/suballoc.c:?) __mark_inode_dirty+0x758/0x9a0 (?:?) inode_to_bdi+0x41/0x90 (?:?) balance_dirty_pages_ratelimited_flags+0xf8/0x1d0 (?:?) generic_perform_write+0x252/0x440 (?:?) mnt_put_write_access_file+0x16/0x70 (?:?) file_update_time_flags+0xe4/0x200 (?:?) ocfs2_file_write_iter+0x80a/0x1320 (fs/ocfs2/suballoc.c:?) lock_acquire+0x184/0x2f0 (?:?) ksys_write+0xd2/0x170 (?:?) apparmor_file_permission+0xf5/0x310 (?:?) read_zero+0x8d/0x140 (?:?) lock_is_held_type+0x8f/0x100 (?:?)

Where it lives

The fix touches these files. If the subsystem is one you do not use, the practical exposure is lower, though the package is still the vulnerable one.

fs/ocfs2/suballoc.c

What this is
ORACLE CLUSTER FILESYSTEM 2 (OCFS2)MAINTAINERS section matched on fs/ocfs2/ · ocfs2-devel@lists.linux.dev · Supported
Kernel module
ocfs2

Check it on the machine

grep -w CONFIG_OCFS2_FS /boot/config-$(uname -r)

Reads the booted kernel's own configuration, on the machine and nowhere else. =y is built in, =m is a module, and an is not set line means the code is not there.

lsmod | grep -w ocfs2

Prints a line if that module is loaded right now, and nothing if it is not. One that is not loaded can still be loaded later by anything that needs it.

Show whether Debian builds this, per release

Debian builds this, but not on every flavour. At least one release below builds the code on some of its kernel flavours and not on others, so the answer depends on the architecture and flavour installed.

  • bookworm, trixie, forky, sidMnot built on amd64/cloud-amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64
M
a module where it is built at all; some flavours do not build it
Build switch
CONFIG_OCFS2_FS

From the configuration Debian publishes for every kernel flavour it builds. It covers only the architectures Debian ships a linux-config package for, and nothing about a kernel you built yourself. Debian's own status above stays authoritative about the source package.MAINTAINERS kbuild Makefiles Debian linux-config packages

Signals

Published
2026-07-19 (3 months ago)source
CVSS
8.8 high
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:Hsource recompute it
Attack vector
network (AV:N)source
EPSS
0.48%, higher than 40.1% of all CVEssource
CISA KEV
not listedthe KEV catalogue
Debian urgency
not yet assignedsource
Subsystem
fs/ocfs2

Upstream fixes

The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source

IntroducedFixed inCommit
2.6.165.10.260336340a0f8a1
2.6.165.15.211296c6a42b117
2.6.166.1.177d2cd59fa848f
2.6.166.6.144c5a125eadba0
2.6.166.12.958f9903b0cdbb
2.6.166.18.384cd57ebee395
2.6.167.1.399c21e726324
2.6.167.29bd541e09dff

Debian advisories

AdvisoryDateShipped toDebian
DLA-4717-12026-08-05bullseye 5.10.262-1tracker
DLA-4700-12026-07-26bullseye 6.1.177-1~deb11u1tracker

Why the CNA scored it this way

Quoted from the kernel CNA's own scoring file, word for word. A highlighted metric carries the most severe value CVSS v3.1 defines for it, which is what pushes the score up. source

AV:NAttack vector, network
OCFS2 registers `ocfs2_export_ops` and is commonly deployed on shared cluster storage exported via NFS; a remote NFS client write reaches `ocfs2_file_write_iter` → cluster allocation → the vulnerable bitmap scan without local shell access on the server.
AC:LAttack complexity, low
Once a crafted group descriptor with oversized `bg_size`/`bg_bits` is on disk, a single file write reliably drives `ocfs2_find_max_contig_free_bits()` past `bg_bitmap`; the fix commit reproduced this deterministically under KASAN with no race or layout-dependent conditions.
PR:LPrivileges required, low
Exploitation requires only write access to a file on the mounted OCFS2 volume (local unprivileged user) or equivalent NFS write credentials; mounting requires `CAP_SYS_ADMIN` but metadata planting on shared SAN/iSCSI LUNs is separate from the trigger privilege.
UI:NUser interaction, none
In the highest-impact scenario—malicious group-descriptor metadata pre-placed on shared cluster storage already mounted in production—the attacker triggers the bug with their own write and no additional victim action (mount, open, or click) is required at exploit time.
S:UScope, unchanged
The bug corrupts kernel heap memory during in-kernel filesystem allocation on the same host/NFS server; impact stays within the kernel’s security authority and does not inherently cross VM, container, or IOMMU boundaries.
C:HConfidentiality impact, high
Oversized `bg_bits` causes `_find_next_bit()` to read past the physical `bg_bitmap` region; the fix commit documents a KASAN use-after-free/out-of-bounds read, which is an arbitrary kernel memory read primitive under attacker-influenced scan bounds.
I:HIntegrity impact, high
The same inflated `bg_bits` drives `ocfs2_set_bit()` during `ocfs2_block_group_set_bits()`, enabling out-of-bounds writes in the group-descriptor buffer page that can be leveraged for heap corruption and control-flow hijacking.
A:HAvailability impact, high
The reproduced KASAN fault in `_find_next_bit()` during cluster allocation on write demonstrates kernel memory corruption that causes oops/panic-level availability loss on affected nodes.