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In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been...

High severity Unreviewed Published May 6, 2026 to the GitHub Advisory Database • Updated May 11, 2026

Package

No package listedSuggest a package

Affected versions

Unknown

Patched versions

Unknown

Description

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

xfs: delete attr leaf freemap entries when empty

Back in commit 2a2b5932db6758 ("xfs: fix attr leaf header freemap.size
underflow"), Brian Foster observed that it's possible for a small
freemap at the end of the end of the xattr entries array to experience
a size underflow when subtracting the space consumed by an expansion of
the entries array. There are only three freemap entries, which means
that it is not a complete index of all free space in the leaf block.

This code can leave behind a zero-length freemap entry with a nonzero
base. Subsequent setxattr operations can increase the base up to the
point that it overlaps with another freemap entry. This isn't in and of
itself a problem because the code in _leaf_add that finds free space
ignores any freemap entry with zero size.

However, there's another bug in the freemap update code in _leaf_add,
which is that it fails to update a freemap entry that begins midway
through the xattr entry that was just appended to the array. That can
result in the freemap containing two entries with the same base but
different sizes (0 for the "pushed-up" entry, nonzero for the entry
that's actually tracking free space). A subsequent _leaf_add can then
allocate xattr namevalue entries on top of the entries array, leading to
data loss. But fixing that is for later.

For now, eliminate the possibility of confusion by zeroing out the base
of any freemap entry that has zero size. Because the freemap is not
intended to be a complete index of free space, a subsequent failure to
find any free space for a new xattr will trigger block compaction, which
regenerates the freemap.

It looks like this bug has been in the codebase for quite a long time.

References

Published by the National Vulnerability Database May 6, 2026
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database May 6, 2026
Last updated May 11, 2026

Severity

High

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS score

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

This score estimates the probability of this vulnerability being exploited within the next 30 days. Data provided by FIRST.
(38th percentile)

Weaknesses

Integer Underflow (Wrap or Wraparound)

The product subtracts one value from another, such that the result is less than the minimum allowable integer value, which produces a value that is not equal to the correct result. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2026-43187

GHSA ID

GHSA-8h5h-g93f-3ff6

Source code

No known source code

Dependabot alerts are not supported on this advisory because it does not have a package from a supported ecosystem with an affected and fixed version.

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