Description
The ext4_orphan_del function in fs/ext4/namei.c in the Linux kernel before 3.7.3 does not properly handle orphan-list entries for non-journal filesystems, which allows physically proximate attackers to cause a denial of service (system hang) via a crafted filesystem on removable media, as demonstrated by the e2fsprogs tests/f_orphan_extents_inode/image.gz test.
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | linux | 3.8-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | linux | 3.8-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | linux | 3.8-1 | — |
| Debian 7 | linux | 3.2.41-2+deb7u2 | DSA-2669-1 |
| Debian 6.0 | linux-2.6 | 2.6.32-48squeeze3 | DSA-2668-1 |
SUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES 11 SP2 | kernel-ec2 +6 | 3.0.101-0.7.40.1 | SUSE-SU-2016:2074-1 |
Advisories 3
- DSA-2669-1 linux - several Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
- DSA-2668-1 linux-2.6 - several Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2016:2074-1 Security update for the Linux Kernel SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
References
- https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/0e9a9a1ad619e7e987815d20262d36a2f95717ca
- http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v3.x/ChangeLog-3.7.3
- http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=0e9a9a1ad619e7e987815d20262d36a2f95717ca
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=957123
- SUSE-SU-2016:2074 vendor-advisory
- [oss-security] 20130426 Re: CVE request: Linux kernel: ext4: hang during mount(8) mailing-list