[PATCH] ext2: reject inodes with zero i_nlink and valid mode in ext2_iget()

From: Vasiliy Kovalev

Date: Sat Apr 04 2026 - 11:20:38 EST


ext2_iget() already rejects inodes with i_nlink == 0 when i_mode is
zero or i_dtime is set, treating them as deleted. However, the case of
i_nlink == 0 with a non-zero mode and zero dtime slips through. Since
ext2 has no orphan list, such a combination can only result from
filesystem corruption - a legitimate inode deletion always sets either
i_dtime or clears i_mode before freeing the inode.

A crafted image can exploit this gap to present such an inode to the
VFS, which then triggers WARN_ON inside drop_nlink() (fs/inode.c) via
ext2_unlink(), ext2_rename() and ext2_rmdir():

WARNING: CPU: 3 PID: 609 at fs/inode.c:336 drop_nlink+0xad/0xd0 fs/inode.c:336
CPU: 3 UID: 0 PID: 609 Comm: syz-executor Not tainted 6.12.77+ #1
Call Trace:
<TASK>
inode_dec_link_count include/linux/fs.h:2518 [inline]
ext2_unlink+0x26c/0x300 fs/ext2/namei.c:295
vfs_unlink+0x2fc/0x9b0 fs/namei.c:4477
do_unlinkat+0x53e/0x730 fs/namei.c:4541
__x64_sys_unlink+0xc6/0x110 fs/namei.c:4587
do_syscall_64+0xf5/0x220 arch/x86/entry/common.c:78
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f
</TASK>

WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 646 at fs/inode.c:336 drop_nlink+0xad/0xd0 fs/inode.c:336
CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 646 Comm: syz.0.17 Not tainted 6.12.77+ #1
Call Trace:
<TASK>
inode_dec_link_count include/linux/fs.h:2518 [inline]
ext2_rename+0x35e/0x850 fs/ext2/namei.c:374
vfs_rename+0xf2f/0x2060 fs/namei.c:5021
do_renameat2+0xbe2/0xd50 fs/namei.c:5178
__x64_sys_rename+0x7e/0xa0 fs/namei.c:5223
do_syscall_64+0xf5/0x220 arch/x86/entry/common.c:78
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f
</TASK>

WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 634 at fs/inode.c:336 drop_nlink+0xad/0xd0 fs/inode.c:336
CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 634 Comm: syz-executor Not tainted 6.12.77+ #1
Call Trace:
<TASK>
inode_dec_link_count include/linux/fs.h:2518 [inline]
ext2_rmdir+0xca/0x110 fs/ext2/namei.c:311
vfs_rmdir+0x204/0x690 fs/namei.c:4348
do_rmdir+0x372/0x3e0 fs/namei.c:4407
__x64_sys_unlinkat+0xf0/0x130 fs/namei.c:4577
do_syscall_64+0xf5/0x220 arch/x86/entry/common.c:78
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f
</TASK>

Extend the existing i_nlink == 0 check to also catch this case,
reporting the corruption via ext2_error() and returning -EFSCORRUPTED.
This rejects the inode at load time and prevents it from reaching any
of the namei.c paths.

Found by Linux Verification Center (linuxtesting.org) with Syzkaller.

Fixes: 1da177e4c3f4 ("Linux-2.6.12-rc2")
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Signed-off-by: Vasiliy Kovalev <kovalev@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
fs/ext2/inode.c | 14 +++++++++++---
1 file changed, 11 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/fs/ext2/inode.c b/fs/ext2/inode.c
index dbfe9098a124..39d972722f5f 100644
--- a/fs/ext2/inode.c
+++ b/fs/ext2/inode.c
@@ -1430,9 +1430,17 @@ struct inode *ext2_iget (struct super_block *sb, unsigned long ino)
* the test is that same one that e2fsck uses
* NeilBrown 1999oct15
*/
- if (inode->i_nlink == 0 && (inode->i_mode == 0 || ei->i_dtime)) {
- /* this inode is deleted */
- ret = -ESTALE;
+ if (inode->i_nlink == 0) {
+ if (inode->i_mode == 0 || ei->i_dtime) {
+ /* this inode is deleted */
+ ret = -ESTALE;
+ } else {
+ ext2_error(sb, __func__,
+ "inode %lu has zero i_nlink with mode 0%o and no dtime, "
+ "filesystem may be corrupt",
+ ino, inode->i_mode);
+ ret = -EFSCORRUPTED;
+ }
goto bad_inode;
}
inode->i_blocks = le32_to_cpu(raw_inode->i_blocks);
--
2.50.1