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Vulnerability Change Records for CVE-2025-71069

Change History

New CVE Received from kernel.org 1/13/2026 11:16:06 AM

Action Type Old Value New Value
Added Description

								
							
							
						
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

f2fs: invalidate dentry cache on failed whiteout creation

F2FS can mount filesystems with corrupted directory depth values that
get runtime-clamped to MAX_DIR_HASH_DEPTH. When RENAME_WHITEOUT
operations are performed on such directories, f2fs_rename performs
directory modifications (updating target entry and deleting source
entry) before attempting to add the whiteout entry via f2fs_add_link.

If f2fs_add_link fails due to the corrupted directory structure, the
function returns an error to VFS, but the partial directory
modifications have already been committed to disk. VFS assumes the
entire rename operation failed and does not update the dentry cache,
leaving stale mappings.

In the error path, VFS does not call d_move() to update the dentry
cache. This results in new_dentry still pointing to the old inode
(new_inode) which has already had its i_nlink decremented to zero.
The stale cache causes subsequent operations to incorrectly reference
the freed inode.

This causes subsequent operations to use cached dentry information that
no longer matches the on-disk state. When a second rename targets the
same entry, VFS attempts to decrement i_nlink on the stale inode, which
may already have i_nlink=0, triggering a WARNING in drop_nlink().

Example sequence:
1. First rename (RENAME_WHITEOUT): file2 → file1
   - f2fs updates file1 entry on disk (points to inode 8)
   - f2fs deletes file2 entry on disk
   - f2fs_add_link(whiteout) fails (corrupted directory)
   - Returns error to VFS
   - VFS does not call d_move() due to error
   - VFS cache still has: file1 → inode 7 (stale!)
   - inode 7 has i_nlink=0 (already decremented)

2. Second rename: file3 → file1
   - VFS uses stale cache: file1 → inode 7
   - Tries to drop_nlink on inode 7 (i_nlink already 0)
   - WARNING in drop_nlink()

Fix this by explicitly invalidating old_dentry and new_dentry when
f2fs_add_link fails during whiteout creation. This forces VFS to
refresh from disk on subsequent operations, ensuring cache consistency
even when the rename partially succeeds.

Reproducer:
1. Mount F2FS image with corrupted i_current_depth
2. renameat2(file2, file1, RENAME_WHITEOUT)
3. renameat2(file3, file1, 0)
4. System triggers WARNING in drop_nlink()
Added Reference

								
							
							
						
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0dde30753c1e8648665dbe069d814e540ce2fd37
Added Reference

								
							
							
						
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3d65e27e57aaa9d66709fda4cbfb62a87c04a3f5
Added Reference

								
							
							
						
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/64587ab4d1f16fc94f70e04fa87b2e3f69f8a7bb
Added Reference

								
							
							
						
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c89845fae250efdd59c1d4ec60e9e1c652cee4b6
Added Reference

								
							
							
						
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d33f89b34aa313f50f9a512d58dd288999f246b0