CVE-2026-45960

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: hfsplus: return error when node already exists in hfs_bnode_create When hfs_bnode_create() finds that a node is already hashed (which should not happen in normal operation), it currently returns the existing node without incrementing its reference count. This causes a reference count inconsistency that leads to a kernel panic when the node is later freed in hfs_bnode_put(): kernel BUG at fs/hfsplus/bnode.c:676! BUG_ON(!atomic_read(&node->refcnt)) This scenario can occur when hfs_bmap_alloc() attempts to allocate a node that is already in use (e.g., when node 0's bitmap bit is incorrectly unset), or due to filesystem corruption. Returning an existing node from a create path is not normal operation. Fix this by returning ERR_PTR(-EEXIST) instead of the node when it's already hashed. This properly signals the error condition to callers, which already check for IS_ERR() return values.

• linux linux kernel (>= 2.6.16.1 < 5.10.252) • linux linux kernel (>= 5.11 < 5.15.202) • linux linux kernel (>= 5.16 < 6.1.165) • linux linux kernel (>= 6.2 < 6.6.128) • linux linux kernel (>= 6.7 < 6.12.75) • linux linux kernel (>= 6.13 < 6.18.14) • linux linux kernel (>= 6.19 < 6.19.4) • linux linux kernel 2.6.16