Deadlock Affecting kernel-tools-devel package, versions <1:6.1.188-233.385.amzn2023


Severity

Recommended
high

Based on Amazon Linux security rating.

Threat Intelligence

EPSS
0.2% (9th percentile)

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  • Snyk IDSNYK-AMZN2023-KERNELTOOLSDEVEL-20871623
  • published13 Oct 2026
  • disclosed24 Sept 2026

Introduced: 24 Sep 2026

NewCVE-2026-93268  (opens in a new tab)
CWE-833  (opens in a new tab)

How to fix?

Upgrade Amazon-Linux:2023 kernel-tools-devel to version 1:6.1.188-233.385.amzn2023 or higher.
This issue was patched in ALAS2023-2026-3197.

NVD Description

Note: Versions mentioned in the description apply only to the upstream kernel-tools-devel package and not the kernel-tools-devel package as distributed by Amazon-Linux. See How to fix? for Amazon-Linux:2023 relevant fixed versions and status.

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

ext4: skip extra isize expansion during mount to prevent deadlock

ext4_try_to_expand_extra_isize() is called from __ext4_mark_inode_dirty() while holding an active jbd2 handle. During mount (!SB_ACTIVE), the expand path may move xattrs to external blocks and release ea_inodes via iput(). When !SB_ACTIVE, iput() calls write_inode_now() which acquires s_writepages_rwsem, creating a circular lock dependency:

s_writepages_rwsem --> jbd2_handle --> xattr_sem --> s_writepages_rwsem

This can be triggered via:

ext4_process_orphan() -> ext4_truncate() -> ext4_mark_inode_dirty() -> ext4_try_to_expand_extra_isize()

or:

ext4_evict_inode() -> ext4_mark_inode_dirty() -> ext4_try_to_expand_extra_isize()

Skip expansion when !SB_ACTIVE. This is a minor loss of functionality (extra isize won't grow for these inodes during mount), which e2fsck can resolve later if needed.

CVSS Base Scores

version 3.1