System deadlock via late donor superblock validation
Published Aug 15, 2026 · Updated Aug 15, 2026
Denial of service in the Linux kernel ext4 code since 3.18 allows local users to deadlock the system through EXT4_IOC_MOVE_EXT. EXT4_IOC_MOVE_EXT checks whether the donor file shares the original file's superblock only after lock_two_nondirectories() takes inode locks, permitting an overlayfs donor and concurrent filesystem freeze to form a circular wait. Exploitation requires local low-privileged access, files on different filesystems, and a concurrent freeze; the resulting impact is a system hang.
Summary
What happened
Denial of service in the Linux kernel ext4 code since 3.18 allows local users to deadlock the system through EXT4_IOC_MOVE_EXT. EXT4_IOC_MOVE_EXT checks whether the donor file shares the original file's superblock only after lock_two_nondirectories() takes inode locks, permitting an overlayfs donor and concurrent filesystem freeze to form a circular wait. Exploitation requires local low-privileged access, files on different filesystems, and a concurrent freeze; the resulting impact is a system hang.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-74307
- Published
- Aug 15, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 15, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-617, T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 15, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 15, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
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- Affected versionversion=3.18
- Affected versionversion=fcf6b1b729bcd23f2b49a84fb33ffbb44712ee6a <74796e886ca39fcb0d3fd36ea6a39c62784ab6fb
- Affected versionversion=fcf6b1b729bcd23f2b49a84fb33ffbb44712ee6a <c143957520c6c9b5cd72e0de8b52b814f0c576fe
- Affected versionversion=fcf6b1b729bcd23f2b49a84fb33ffbb44712ee6a <fb52013cad9e9b7d3a6a14ea1bcd841e41da7c6c
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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