# CVE-2026-71224: Gfs2-utils: gfs2-utils: stack overflow via alloca(i_height) in metadata walk

Status: published. Published: 2026-09-03. Updated: 2026-11-05.

A stack overflow vulnerability was found in gfs2-utils. The metadata walk code in metawalk.c uses alloca() with an untrusted inode height value from on-disk metadata without bounds validation, causing stack exhaustion and a denial of service when processing crafted GFS2 filesystem images.

## Remediation

- workaround: Run gfs2-utils tools in a containerized or VM-isolated environment when processing potentially compromised or untrusted GFS2 filesystem images. Disable automatic fsck at boot for GFS2 filesystems until patches are applied by setting fs_passno to 0 in /etc/fstab. Use ulimit -s to reduce the stack size limit, converting potential exploitation into a controlled crash. (source: CNA: redhat)

## Affected products and versions

- Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (gfs2-utils): Version range not reported. Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 (gfs2-utils): Version range not reported. Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 (gfs2-utils): Version range not reported. Source: CNA: redhat

## Severity and prioritization

- CVSS 3.1: 4.7 (medium); CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H; source: CNA: redhat

- CISA KEV: No listing in collected sources

- EPSS: 0.14% as of 2026-11-05; percentile 3.63%

- SSVC: exploitation none; automatable no; technical impact partial; source ADP: CISA-ADP

- Weaknesses: CWE-770

## Exploit evidence

No exploit evidence in collected sources. This is not proof of no exploitation.

## References

- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-71224 (CNA: redhat; vdb-entry, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2511397 (CNA: redhat; issue-tracking, x_refsource_REDHAT)

## Provenance

- CNA: redhat: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-71224; retrieved 2026-11-05; source updated 2026-11-05

- FIRST EPSS: https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-71224; retrieved 2026-11-05; source updated Not reported

Revision: 5c170b660ad2aeef8fc11ab7d3726143d4ff89eef50ceb252677e75b54d2ef5a

Canonical: https://y2.dev/cve/CVE-2026-71224

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