Bug 2516624 (CVE-2026-72369)

Summary: CVE-2026-72369 kernel: minix: avoid overflow in bitmap block count calculation
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: medium Docs Contact:
Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedCC: rhel-process-autobot, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
Target Release: ---   
Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version: Doc Type: ---
Doc Text:
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Minix filesystem. A local attacker can exploit this vulnerability by mounting a specially crafted Minix v3 image. This image can contain specific inode or zone counts that trigger an integer overflow during the calculation of bitmap block counts. The overflow leads to the kernel attempting to dereference unallocated memory, causing a kernel panic and resulting in a denial of service (DoS).
Story Points: ---
Clone Of: Environment:
Last Closed: Type: ---
Regression: --- Mount Type: ---
Documentation: --- CRM:
Verified Versions: Category: ---
oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team: --- Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:

Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-08-15 06:22:33 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

minix: avoid overflow in bitmap block count calculation

minix_check_superblock() uses minix_blocks_needed() to verify that the
on-disk imap and zmap block counts are large enough for the advertised
inode and zone counts.

The helper currently performs DIV_ROUND_UP() in unsigned int arithmetic.
A Minix v3 image can set s_ninodes or s_zones near UINT_MAX so the
addition inside DIV_ROUND_UP() wraps to zero. That makes a zero imap/zmap
block count look valid, after which minix_fill_super() can dereference
s_imap[0] or s_zmap[0] even though no bitmap buffers were allocated.

Impact: mounting a crafted Minix v3 image whose s_ninodes or s_zones is
near UINT_MAX makes minix_check_superblock() accept a zero bitmap-block
count and minix_fill_super() dereference s_imap[0]/s_zmap[0], panicking
the kernel.

The divisor is the bitmap capacity in bits, blocksize * 8, which is
always a power of two: minix_fill_super() obtains the block size through
sb_set_blocksize(), and blk_validate_block_size() rejects any size that
is not a power of two. Use DIV_ROUND_UP_POW2(), which divides before
adding the round-up term and so cannot overflow for a power-of-two
divisor.