+++ This bug was initially created as a clone of Bug #460421 +++ Description of problem: The ext2 filesystem does not force read-only mode when the revision level is too high. That is, when le32_to_cpu(es->s_rev_level) > EXT3_MAX_SUPP_REV.
738 static int ext2_fill_super(struct super_block *sb, void *data, int silent) 739 { [...] 1066 ext2_setup_super (sb, es, sb->s_flags & MS_RDONLY); 1067 return 0; 576 static int ext2_setup_super (struct super_block * sb, 577 struct ext2_super_block * es, 578 int read_only) 579 { 580 int res = 0; 581 struct ext2_sb_info *sbi = EXT2_SB(sb); 582 583 if (le32_to_cpu(es->s_rev_level) > EXT2_MAX_SUPP_REV) { 584 printk ("EXT2-fs warning: revision level too high, " 585 "forcing read-only mode\n"); 586 res = MS_RDONLY; 587 } [...] 618 return res; 619 } It doesn't look like this piece of code is tested at all. The status returned from ext2_setup_super is not checked, so what it did was to print a warning message. I believe this should be done in the early part of ext2_fill_super().
Updating PM score.
Since RHEL 4.8 External Beta has begun, and this bugzilla remains unresolved, it has been rejected as it is not proposed as exception or blocker.
I don't think this is a critical fix for RHEL at this point.