CVE-2026-45920
Description
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's ext4 filesystem. This vulnerability allows a local user to trigger an inconsistency in the dirty clusters count during filesystem shutdown. The issue stems from a double decrement in the error handling path, which can lead to system instability and a denial of service.
Statement
This vulnerability is rated as having a Low severity for Red Hat Enterprise Linux because triggering it requires an uncommon sequence of disk write failures during an ext4 filesystem shutdown, resulting merely in a non-fatal kernel warning during unmount. The flaw cannot be exploited across the network and does not allow unauthorized privilege escalation, arbitrary code execution, or persistent data corruption. Consequently, the practical operational impact is limited to diagnostic log noise under rare error conditions on local systems.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 5.5 | 7.8 | N/A |
| Attack Vector | Local | Local | N/A |
| Attack Complexity | Low | Low | N/A |
| Privileges Required | Low | Low | N/A |
| User Interaction | None | None | N/A |
| Scope | Unchanged | Unchanged | N/A |
| Confidentiality | None | High | N/A |
| Integrity Impact | None | High | N/A |
| Availability Impact | High | High | N/A |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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