btrfs: fix block group refcount race in btrfs_create_pending_block_groups()
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: fix block group refcount race in btrfs_create_pending_block_groups() Block group creation is done in two phases, which results in a slightly unintuitive property: a block group can be allocated/deallocated from after btrfs_make_block_group() adds it to the space_info with btrfs_add_bg_to_space_info(), but before creation is completely completed in btrfs_create_pending_block_groups(). As a result, it is possible for a block group to go unused and have 'btrfs_mark_bg_unused' called on it concurrently with 'btrfs_create_pending_block_groups'. This causes a number of issues, which were fixed with the block group flag 'BLOCK_GROUP_FLAG_NEW'. However, this fix is not quite complete. Since it does not use the unused_bg_lock, it is possible for the following race to occur: btrfs_create_pending_block_groups btrfs_mark_bg_unused if list_empty // false list_del_init clear_bit else if (test_bit) // true list_move_tail And we get into the exact same broken ref count and invalid new_bgs state for transaction cleanup that BLOCK_GROUP_FLAG_NEW was designed to prevent. The broken refcount aspect will result in a warning like: [1272.943527] refcount_t: underflow; use-after-free. [1272.943967] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 61 at lib/refcount.c:28 refcount_warn_saturate+0xba/0x110 [1272.944731] Modules linked in: btrfs virtio_net xor zstd_compress raid6_pq null_blk [last unloaded: btrfs] [1272.945550] CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 61 Comm: kworker/u32:1 Kdump: loaded Tainted: G W 6.14.0-rc5+ #108 [1272.946368] Tainted: [W]=WARN [1272.946585] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS Arch Linux 1.16.3-1-1 04/01/2014 [1272.947273] Workqueue: btrfs_discard btrfs_discard_workfn [btrfs] [1272.947788] RIP: 0010:refcount_warn_saturate+0xba/0x110 [1272.949532] RSP: 0018:ffffbf1200247df0 EFLAGS: 00010282 [1272.949901] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffffa14b00e3f800 RCX: 0000000000000000 [1272.950437] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: ffffbf1200247c78 RDI: 00000000ffffdfff [1272.950986] RBP: ffffa14b00dc2860 R08: 00000000ffffdfff R09: ffffffff90526268 [1272.951512] R10: ffffffff904762c0 R11: 0000000063666572 R12: ffffa14b00dc28c0 [1272.952024] R13: 0000000000000000 R14: ffffa14b00dc2868 R15: 000001285dcd12c0 [1272.952850] FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffffa14d33c40000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [1272.953458] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [1272.953931] CR2: 00007f838cbda000 CR3: 000000010104e000 CR4: 00000000000006f0 [1272.954474] Call Trace: [1272.954655] <TASK> [1272.954812] ? refcount_warn_saturate+0xba/0x110 [1272.955173] ? __warn.cold+0x93/0xd7 [1272.955487] ? refcount_warn_saturate+0xba/0x110 [1272.955816] ? report_bug+0xe7/0x120 [1272.956103] ? handle_bug+0x53/0x90 [1272.956424] ? exc_invalid_op+0x13/0x60 [1272.956700] ? asm_exc_invalid_op+0x16/0x20 [1272.957011] ? refcount_warn_saturate+0xba/0x110 [1272.957399] btrfs_discard_cancel_work.cold+0x26/0x2b [btrfs] [1272.957853] btrfs_put_block_group.cold+0x5d/0x8e [btrfs] [1272.958289] btrfs_discard_workfn+0x194/0x380 [btrfs] [1272.958729] process_one_work+0x130/0x290 [1272.959026] worker_thread+0x2ea/0x420 [1272.959335] ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 [1272.959644] kthread+0xd7/0x1c0 [1272.959872] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [1272.960172] ret_from_fork+0x30/0x50 [1272.960474] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [1272.960745] ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 [1272.961035] </TASK> [1272.961238] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- Though we have seen them in the async discard workfn as well. It is most likely to happen after a relocation finishes which cancels discard, tears down the block group, etc. Fix this fully by taking the lock arou ---truncated---
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 6.1.47 to before 6.1.191; 6.4.12 to before 6.5 | 6.1.191, 6.5 | Patch available | CNA |
| Linux | Linux | 6.5 and later | 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.40, 6.14.2, 6.15 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 6.1.47 to before 6.1.191; 6.4.12 to before 6.5 Fixed in 6.1.191, 6.5 Patch available CNA
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 6.5 and later Fixed in 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.40, 6.14.2, 6.15 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 7
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.1.47 to before 6.2; 6.4.12 to before 6.5; 6.5.1 to before 6.12.40; 6.13 to before 6.14.2 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:-:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.5 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.5 rc3 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.5 rc4 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.5 rc5 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.5 rc6 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.5 rc7 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.1.47 to before 6.2; 6.4.12 to before 6.5; 6.5.1 to before 6.12.40; 6.13 to before 6.14.2 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:-:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.5 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.5 rc3 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.5 rc4 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.5 rc5 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.5 rc6 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.5:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.5 rc7 Vulnerable ·Linux
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.1.191, 6.5
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.40, 6.14.2, 6.15
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Low. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
Not affected: 5 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-22115
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-h52v-87c4-f7qg
- 2026-10-21 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@77fd40b7ed0c3acf989a0f2a07b15a0a59ea8f96 · CNA
- 2026-10-21 1 new reference · CNA
- 2026-10-30 Fix available: Linux/Linux@3232bdf8a135877345c25bf4c0d892334a4c03f7, Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-30 1 new reference · CNA
- 2026-11-07 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
Patch 3
More Linux Kernel vulnerabilities
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Sources
- CVE-2025-22115 · CVE Program
- CVE-2025-22115 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-h52v-87c4-f7qg · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2025-22115 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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