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.

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History

Thu, 07 May 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-665

Thu, 07 May 2026 00:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-190
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.0, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

threat_severity

Moderate


Wed, 06 May 2026 15:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-665

Wed, 06 May 2026 12:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
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.
Title xfs: delete attr leaf freemap entries when empty
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References

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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2026-05-06T11:27:57.727Z

Reserved: 2026-05-01T14:12:55.991Z

Link: CVE-2026-43187

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Awaiting Analysis

Published: 2026-05-06T12:16:37.440

Modified: 2026-05-06T13:07:51.607

Link: CVE-2026-43187

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Moderate

Publid Date: 2026-05-06T00:00:00Z

Links: CVE-2026-43187 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-05-07T06:15:23Z

Weaknesses