CVE-2021-46945

ext4: always panic when errors=panic is specified

MEDIUM
5.5
CVSS Score
Published: February 27, 2024 at 06:40 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 04:15 AM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

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Severity
MEDIUM5.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.2%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: always panic when errors=panic is specified Before commit 014c9caa29d3 ("ext4: make ext4_abort() use __ext4_error()"), the following series of commands would trigger a panic: 1. mount /dev/sda -o ro,errors=panic test 2. mount /dev/sda -o remount,abort test After commit 014c9caa29d3, remounting a file system using the test mount option "abort" will no longer trigger a panic. This commit will restore the behaviour immediately before commit 014c9caa29d3. (However, note that the Linux kernel's behavior has not been consistent; some previous kernel versions, including 5.4 and 4.19 similarly did not panic after using the mount option "abort".) This also makes a change to long-standing behaviour; namely, the following series commands will now cause a panic, when previously it did not: 1. mount /dev/sda -o ro,errors=panic test 2. echo test > /sys/fs/ext4/sda/trigger_fs_error However, this makes ext4's behaviour much more consistent, so this is a good thing.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

5.11 ≤ v < 5.11.205.11 ≤ v < 5.12.35.11 ≤ v < 5.135.11.0 ≤ v < 5.11.205.12.0 ≤ v < 5.12.314c9caa29d3a44e0de695c99ef18bec3e887d525.11
Vendor states this is fixed in 1e9ea8f4637026b8e965128953f2da061ccae9c4 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 64e1eebe2131183174f4fbb6b1491355f96c6cde (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in ac2f7ca51b0929461ea49918f27c11b680f28995 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.11 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.11.20 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.12.3 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.13 (unaffected)

References (3)

Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1e9ea8f4637026b8e965128953f2da061ccae9c4
Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/64e1eebe2131183174f4fbb6b1491355f96c6cde
Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ac2f7ca51b0929461ea49918f27c11b680f28995

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
NVD-CWE-noinfo

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