Bug 2481931 (CVE-2026-46046)

Summary: CVE-2026-46046 kernel: ext4: fix missing brelse() in ext4_xattr_inode_dec_ref_all()
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security <prodsec-ir-bot>
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Priority: low    
Version: unspecifiedCC: rhel-process-autobot, watson-tool-maintainers
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Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's ext4 filesystem. A reference count (refcount) leak occurs in the `ext4_xattr_inode_dec_ref_all()` function. This issue arises because the `iloc.bh` buffer head, acquired by `ext4_get_inode_loc()`, is not properly released with `brelse()`. This can lead to resource exhaustion or system instability over time.
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-05-27 15:02:57 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ext4: fix missing brelse() in ext4_xattr_inode_dec_ref_all()

The commit c8e008b60492 ("ext4: ignore xattrs past end")
introduced a refcount leak in when block_csum is false.

ext4_xattr_inode_dec_ref_all() calls ext4_get_inode_loc() to
get iloc.bh, but never releases it with brelse().