btrfs: fix removed dentries still existing after log is synced
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 2 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: fix removed dentries still existing after log is synced When we move one inode from one directory to another and both the inode and its previous parent directory were logged before, we are not supposed to have the dentry for the old parent if we have a power failure after the log is synced. Only the new dentry is supposed to exist. Generally this works correctly, however there is a scenario where this is not currently working, because the old parent of the file/directory that was moved is not authoritative for a range that includes the dir index and dir item keys of the old dentry. This case is better explained with the following example and reproducer: # The test requires a very specific layout of keys and items in the # fs/subvolume btree to trigger the bug. So we want to make sure that # on whatever platform we are, we have the same leaf/node size. # # Currently in btrfs the node/leaf size can not be smaller than the page # size (but it can be greater than the page size). So use the largest # supported node/leaf size (64K). $ mkfs.btrfs -f -n 65536 /dev/sdc $ mount /dev/sdc /mnt # "testdir" is inode 257. $ mkdir /mnt/testdir $ chmod 755 /mnt/testdir # Create several empty files to have the directory "testdir" with its # items spread over several leaves (7 in this case). $ for ((i = 1; i <= 1200; i++)); do echo -n > /mnt/testdir/file$i done # Create our test directory "dira", inode number 1458, which gets all # its items in leaf 7. # # The BTRFS_DIR_ITEM_KEY item for inode 257 ("testdir") that points to # the entry named "dira" is in leaf 2, while the BTRFS_DIR_INDEX_KEY # item that points to that entry is in leaf 3. # # For this particular filesystem node size (64K), file count and file # names, we endup with the directory entry items from inode 257 in # leaves 2 and 3, as previously mentioned - what matters for triggering # the bug exercised by this test case is that those items are not placed # in leaf 1, they must be placed in a leaf different from the one # containing the inode item for inode 257. # # The corresponding BTRFS_DIR_ITEM_KEY and BTRFS_DIR_INDEX_KEY items for # the parent inode (257) are the following: # # item 460 key (257 DIR_ITEM 3724298081) itemoff 48344 itemsize 34 # location key (1458 INODE_ITEM 0) type DIR # transid 6 data_len 0 name_len 4 # name: dira # # and: # # item 771 key (257 DIR_INDEX 1202) itemoff 36673 itemsize 34 # location key (1458 INODE_ITEM 0) type DIR # transid 6 data_len 0 name_len 4 # name: dira $ mkdir /mnt/testdir/dira # Make sure everything done so far is durably persisted. $ sync # Now do a change to inode 257 ("testdir") that does not result in # COWing leaves 2 and 3 - the leaves that contain the directory items # pointing to inode 1458 (directory "dira"). # # Changing permissions, the owner/group, updating or adding a xattr, # etc, will not change (COW) leaves 2 and 3. So for the sake of # simplicity change the permissions of inode 257, which results in # updating its inode item and therefore change (COW) only leaf 1. $ chmod 700 /mnt/testdir # Now fsync directory inode 257. # # Since only the first leaf was changed/COWed, we log the inode item of # inode 257 and only the dentries found in the first leaf, all have a # key type of BTRFS_DIR_ITEM_KEY, and no keys of type # BTRFS_DIR_INDEX_KEY, because they sort after the former type and none # exist in the first leaf. # # We also log 3 items that represent ranges for dir items and dir # indexes for which the log is authoritative: # # 1) a key of type BTRFS_DIR_LOG_ITEM_KEY, which indicates the log is # authoritative for all BTRFS_DIR_ITEM_KEY keys that have an offset # in the range [0, 2285968570] (the offset here is th ---truncated---
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 5.12 and later | 5.12.7, 5.13 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 5.12 and later Fixed in 5.12.7, 5.13 Patch available CNA
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.12.7, 5.13
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
Not affected: 2 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2021-47072
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-qcc7-grh2-48hx
References
More Linux Kernel vulnerabilities
- TI-2025-26358 tls: fix handling of zero-length records on the rx_list KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-38352 netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
Sources
- CVE-2021-47072 · CVE Program
- CVE-2021-47072 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-qcc7-grh2-48hx · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2021-47072 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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