CVE-2022-50436

Service interruption via ext4 transaction deadlock

Published Oct 1, 2025 · Updated Oct 1, 2025

A deadlock in ext4 in affected Linux kernel builds allows local users to interrupt service through encrypted-directory operations. ext4_unlink starts a jbd2 transaction before calling ext4_find_entry, which can attempt encryption-key setup and deadlock inside that transaction. The condition requires local access to operate on an encrypted ext4 directory and can leave filesystem operations blocked.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.10%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

A deadlock in ext4 in affected Linux kernel builds allows local users to interrupt service through encrypted-directory operations. ext4_unlink starts a jbd2 transaction before calling ext4_find_entry, which can attempt encryption-key setup and deadlock inside that transaction. The condition requires local access to operate on an encrypted ext4 directory and can leave filesystem operations blocked.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-50436
Published
Oct 1, 2025
Updated
Oct 1, 2025
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 1, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Oct 1, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=5.10
  2. Affected versionversion=a80f7fcf18672ae4971a6b713b58c0d389aa99fe <1ba993208bcfd691e241483420a2a761d3f15750
  3. Affected versionversion=a80f7fcf18672ae4971a6b713b58c0d389aa99fe <206dd3acfb9bca54a25b228c7c7c2257eedde09b
  4. Affected versionversion=a80f7fcf18672ae4971a6b713b58c0d389aa99fe <23ad034760dd38e12b0e0e1b28b9629f330810a1
  5. Affected versionversion=a80f7fcf18672ae4971a6b713b58c0d389aa99fe <4c0d5778385cb3618ff26a561ce41de2b7d9de70
  6. Affected versionversion=a80f7fcf18672ae4971a6b713b58c0d389aa99fe <6220ec405571ded17efedc56587190b542adf246

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=5.10; version=a80f7fcf18672ae4971a6b713b58c0d389aa99fe <1ba993208bcfd691e241483420a2a761d3f15750; version=a80f7fcf18672ae4971a6b713b58c0d389aa99fe <206dd3acfb9bca54a25b228c7c7c2257eedde09b; version=a80f7fcf18672ae4971a6b713b58c0d389aa99fe <23ad034760dd38e12b0e0e1b28b9629f330810a1; version=a80f7fcf18672ae4971a6b713b58c0d389aa99fe <4c0d5778385cb3618ff26a561ce41de2b7d9de70; version=a80f7fcf18672ae4971a6b713b58c0d389aa99fe <6220ec405571ded17efedc56587190b542adf246

Published CVSS scores

5.5NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
7.0Amazon LinuxCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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