[Bug 2098641] Re: FAT filesystem probing fails if a file's timestamp exceeds 2038
Mate Kukri
2098641 at bugs.launchpad.net
Fri Jun 27 08:39:33 UTC 2025
Does not seem to affect kernel.
** No longer affects: linux-bluefield (Ubuntu)
** No longer affects: linux-bluefield (Ubuntu Focal)
** No longer affects: linux-bluefield (Ubuntu Jammy)
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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2098641
Title:
FAT filesystem probing fails if a file's timestamp exceeds 2038
Status in grub2 package in Ubuntu:
Won't Fix
Status in grub2-unsigned package in Ubuntu:
Fix Released
Status in grub2 source package in Focal:
Won't Fix
Status in grub2-unsigned source package in Focal:
Fix Released
Status in grub2 source package in Jammy:
Won't Fix
Status in grub2-unsigned source package in Jammy:
Fix Released
Bug description:
[Impact]
If any file's timestamp under `/boot/efi` exceeds 2038, the FAT filesystem probe will fail, and the system will drop into the GRUB shell.
[Fix]
There is an upstream patch that fixes this issue:
https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/grub.git/commit/grub-core/fs?id=e43f3d93b28cce852c110c7a8e40d8311bcd8bb1
[Test Plan]
1. Prepare an EFI partition in FAT format.
root at jammy:~# lsblk -f
vda
├─vda1
│ vfat FAT32 C34E-C891 1G 1% /boot/efi
├─vda2
│ ext4 1.0 0cbb726b-e9ac-47bf-8593-9ec43402076f 1.7G 7% /boot
└─vda3
LVM2_m LVM2 eHoy3y-L7Fk-J4FQ-Fhlw-XXBR-C3xl-gQDAWo
└─ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv
ext4 1.0 78ec8d75-3ce6-4f09-abba-c6278aec36e7 79.7G 13% /
2. Change the timestamp of a directory under /boot/efi to exceed 2038:
touch -d "2038-02-27" /boot/efi/EFI
3. Reboot, and the system will be entered into the grub shell.
[Where problems could occur]
The patch simply bypasses the error logic when the modification time is zero in FAT.
There should be no regression unless the FAT filesystem is unable to handle such scenarios.
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