CVE-2026-98885: ima: return error early if file xattr cannot be changed

Unscored severity · published Oct 23, 2026

CVE-2026-98885

ima: return error early if file xattr cannot be changed

–

CVSS

0.2%

EPSS

On KEV

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ima: return error early if file xattr cannot be changed During early boot, the filesystem is read-only and any changes to xattrs are not allowed. This fails in case of ext4 because changing xattr starts an ext4 transaction which fails with the following warning. WARNING: fs/ext4/ext4_jbd2.c:75 at ext4_journal_check_start+0x63/0xa0 [ext4], CPU#1: systemd-sysroot/561 CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 561 Comm: systemd-sysroot Not tainted 6.19.12-1-default #1 PREEMPT(voluntary) openSUSE Tumbleweed c2dfc3c9d9f6f1233251c5d4410574fe82a348ee Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS unknown 02/02/2022 RIP: 0010:ext4_journal_check_start+0x63/0xa0 [ext4] Call Trace: __ext4_journal_start_sb+0x3e/0x180 [ext4 6d025f3bc52c89a957b89a89d211fadf5e9434e1] ext4_xattr_set+0x104/0x150 [ext4 6d025f3bc52c89a957b89a89d211fadf5e9434e1] __vfs_setxattr+0x9a/0xd0 __vfs_setxattr_noperm+0x76/0x1f0 ima_appraise_measurement+0x23e/0xe40 ima_d_path+0x5a/0xd0 process_measurement+0xb29/0xc40 ? copy_from_kernel_nofault+0x21/0xe0 ? fscrypt_file_open+0xc0/0xe0 ? ext4_file_open+0x60/0x490 [ext4 6d025f3bc52c89a957b89a89d211fadf5e9434e1] ? bpf_prog_31efb7c56239148b_restrict_filesystems+0xab/0x126 ? __bpf_prog_exit+0x23/0xd0 ? __bpf_tramp_exit+0xd/0x50 ? bpf_trampoline_6442530367+0x9f/0xea ima_file_check+0x57/0x80 security_file_post_open+0x50/0xf0 path_openat+0x493/0x1650 do_filp_open+0xc7/0x170 Detect the state of the file early and return the error.

Exploitation

Is it being used?

Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.2% · higher than 7% of CVEs

Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet

CISA KEVNot listed

Ransomware campaign useNot known

Affected products

Which versions

Linux · Linux

07f6a79415d7d502ee0c7d02ace6594a7be7429a before 86acb68ebb220b83def94e7f4c33e24e843970e0; 07f6a79415d7d502ee0c7d02ace6594a7be7429a before 4d98295357bcacb70874e73117e298a9d7d9b830; 07f6a79415d7d502ee0c7d02ace6594a7be7429a before c6988714c0549e06610635c7a71e88635da6db64; 07f6a79415d7d502ee0c7d02ace6594a7be7429a before 8c77312728d07b60fc028f676e42d842df918bcd; 07f6a79415d7d502ee0c7d02ace6594a7be7429a before dce1b66fcfb40c935f426f602c3a41a7b9f62ba4; 07f6a79415d7d502ee0c7d02ace6594a7be7429a before 2f29f880e98bf0087215726c45a485afd15b42cf; +2 more · source: vendor

Affected product

Linux

All Linux CVEs

References

NVD

https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98885

CVE.org

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98885

git.kernel.org

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2f29f880e98bf0087215726c45a485afd15b42cf

git.kernel.org

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4d98295357bcacb70874e73117e298a9d7d9b830