Kernel crash via dirty-page state race
Published Sep 17, 2026 · Updated Sep 17, 2026
A dirty-page race in Linux NILFS2 allows local users to trigger a kernel BUG via filesystem operations on corrupted metadata. In fs/nilfs2/page.c, nilfs_copy_dirty_pages() treats a cleared dirty flag as a fatal invariant violation while copying DAT metadata into its shadow cache, although read-only transition handling clears that flag asynchronously. The path requires a mounted NILFS2 filesystem with metadata corruption; the resulting kernel oops interrupts operation, without evidence of code execution.
Summary
What happened
A dirty-page race in Linux NILFS2 allows local users to trigger a kernel BUG via filesystem operations on corrupted metadata. In fs/nilfs2/page.c, nilfs_copy_dirty_pages() treats a cleared dirty flag as a fatal invariant violation while copying DAT metadata into its shadow cache, although read-only transition handling clears that flag asynchronously. The path requires a mounted NILFS2 filesystem with metadata corruption; the resulting kernel oops interrupts operation, without evidence of code execution.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-90418
- Published
- Sep 17, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 17, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 17, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 17, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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- Affected versionversion=3.10
- Affected versionversion=8c26c4e2694a163d525976e804d81cd955bbb40c <3904fb0ee741ebbbc27ec8f50a9bb6cd31e8af05
- Affected versionversion=8c26c4e2694a163d525976e804d81cd955bbb40c <4e1f21e7540b25d83f86b50780836ed7d2afcc93
- Affected versionversion=8c26c4e2694a163d525976e804d81cd955bbb40c <5166a21b12f549774f2983fa86d2526ea9e66ace
- Affected versionversion=8c26c4e2694a163d525976e804d81cd955bbb40c <66f4ad3ce158902e5f98afea93189972ed8750c2
- Affected versionversion=8c26c4e2694a163d525976e804d81cd955bbb40c <f181155baf0c93a74ebe804c6cecbe970e78ee9e
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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Activity data is delayed. The latest report is Sep 28, 2026.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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