CVE-2026-46169

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: hfsplus: fix uninit-value by validating catalog record size Syzbot reported a KMSAN uninit-value issue in hfsplus_strcasecmp(). The root cause is that hfs_brec_read() doesn't validate that the on-disk record size matches the expected size for the record type being read. When mounting a corrupted filesystem, hfs_brec_read() may read less data than expected. For example, when reading a catalog thread record, the debug output showed: HFSPLUS_BREC_READ: rec_len=520, fd->entrylength=26 HFSPLUS_BREC_READ: WARNING - entrylength (26) < rec_len (520) - PARTIAL READ! hfs_brec_read() only validates that entrylength is not greater than the buffer size, but doesn't check if it's less than expected. It successfully reads 26 bytes into a 520-byte structure and returns success, leaving 494 bytes uninitialized. This uninitialized data in tmp.thread.nodeName then gets copied by hfsplus_cat_build_key_uni() and used by hfsplus_strcasecmp(), triggering the KMSAN warning when the uninitialized bytes are used as array indices in case_fold(). Fix by introducing hfsplus_brec_read_cat() wrapper that: 1. Calls hfs_brec_read() to read the data 2. Validates the record size based on the type field: - Fixed size for folder and file records - Variable size for thread records (depends on string length) 3. Returns -EIO if size doesn't match expected For thread records, check against HFSPLUS_MIN_THREAD_SZ before reading nodeName.length to avoid reading uninitialized data at call sites that don't zero-initialize the entry structure. Also initialize the tmp variable in hfsplus_find_cat() as defensive programming to ensure no uninitialized data even if validation is bypassed.

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EPSS — Exploit Prediction

0.0014

Probability of exploitation

0.03%

Percentile rank

EPSS estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A higher score means more likely to be exploited.

References

Other References

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/61a790974ff7e533acbceca06c7d02f22bf96d4d https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/93e8d613f1a01b6637f387cc93f184cf7fb881d6 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a420904450962a562ad053a41a53a27755021b48 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b6b592275aeff184aa82fcf6abccd833fb71b393 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c91bbd6193c70a02c50c22e0fb1f60c3c5bd053a

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-46169? +

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: hfsplus: fix uninit-value by validating catalog record size Syzbot reported a KMSAN uninit-value issue in hfsplus_strcasecmp(). The root cause is that hfs_brec_read() doesn't validate that the on-disk record size matches the expected size for the record type being read. When mounting a corrupted filesystem, hfs_brec_read() may read less data than expected. For example, when reading a catalog thread record, the debug output showed: HFSPLUS_BREC_READ: rec_len=520, fd->entrylength=26 HFSPLUS_BREC_READ: WARNING - entrylength (26) < rec_len (520) - PARTIAL READ! hfs_brec_read() only validates that entrylength is not greater than the buffer size, but doesn't check if it's less than expected. It successfully reads 26 bytes into a 520-byte structure and returns success, leaving 494 bytes uninitialized. This uninitialized data in tmp.thread.nodeName then gets copied by hfsplus_cat_build_key_uni() and used by hfsplus_strcasecmp(), triggering the KMSAN warning when the uninitialized bytes are used as array indices in case_fold(). Fix by introducing hfsplus_brec_read_cat() wrapper that: 1. Calls hfs_brec_read() to read the data 2. Validates the record size based on the type field: - Fixed size for folder and file records - Variable size for thread records (depends on string length) 3. Returns -EIO if size doesn't match expected For thread records, check against HFSPLUS_MIN_THREAD_SZ before reading nodeName.length to avoid reading uninitialized data at call sites that don't zero-initialize the entry structure. Also initialize the tmp variable in hfsplus_find_cat() as defensive programming to ensure no uninitialized data even if validation is bypassed.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-46169? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.