btrfs: fix xattr replace when multiple xattrs are packed in the same item
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 7 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
The btrfs filesystem in the Linux kernel is affected from 3.19 before the fixed releases listed in the solution. When setxattr replaces the value of one extended attribute that shares a directory item with other attributes and the new value has a different size, the item is written into uninitialized space, which drops its name and flags. An unprivileged remote attacker can trigger this per the CVSS 3.1 vector, and the resulting corruption makes the tree checker abort the transaction at writeback, with the attribute missing.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
Description from the CNA
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: fix xattr replace when multiple xattrs are packed in the same item If we have a btrfs_dir_item item that packs multiple xattrs and then we replace the value of one of them (with the setxattr(2) family of syscalls) with another value of a different size, we end up not having a fully initialized btrfs_dir_item, resulting in a corruption that the tree checker will detect at extent buffer writeback time. This is because in btrfs_setxattr() when we find a btrfs_dir_item with multiple xattrs (due to the crc32c hash of their name being the same) we delete one of the xattr items (btrfs_dir_item) and then insert a new one, but the deletion and insertion results in shifting existing data in the leaf and therefore when the new value of a xattr has a different size, the new btrfs_dir_item is placed in a leaf section that was not initialized and we only copy the value's data and set the value's length in the new btrfs_dir_item, without setting the name, the name's length, the key (which must be all zeroes for xattrs), flags (BTRFS_FT_XATTR) and transaction ID. The following script reproduces the issue: $ cat test.sh #!/bin/bash DEV=/dev/sdi MNT=/mnt/sdi mkfs.btrfs -f $DEV mount $DEV $MNT touch $MNT/testfile # Add two xattrs that, on btrfs, have the same hash (crc32c) for their # name and therefore are packed into the same btrfs_dir_item. setfattr -n user.foobar -v 123 $MNT/testfile setfattr -n user.WvG1c1Td -v qwerty $MNT/testfile # Verify the xattrs are present. echo "xattrs before:" getfattr --absolute-names --dump $MNT/testfile # Now replace the value of the foobar xattr with a significantly larger # value. setfattr -n user.foobar -v abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz $MNT/testfile # Check the xattrs have the expected values. echo "xattrs after:" getfattr --absolute-names --dump $MNT/testfile umount $MNT Running it: $ ./test.sh (...) xattrs before: # file: /mnt/sdi/testfile user.WvG1c1Td="qwerty" user.foobar="123" xattrs after: # file: /mnt/sdi/testfile user.WvG1c1Td="qwerty" So the "user.foobar" xattr is missing and there was a transaction abort when unmounting the fs with the following traces in dmesg: $ dmesg [869800.159271] BTRFS warning (device sdi): access to eb bytenr 30474240 len 16384 out of range start 16015 len 25964 [869800.159293] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [869800.159296] WARNING: fs/btrfs/extent_io.c:4408 at report_eb_range+0x44/0x60 [btrfs], CPU#8: getfattr/2605179 [869800.168961] Modules linked in: btrfs dm_thin_pool (...) [869800.190527] CPU: 8 UID: 0 PID: 2605179 Comm: getfattr Tainted: G W 7.3.0-rc3-btrfs-next-244+ #1 PREEMPT(full) [869800.193726] Tainted: [W]=WARN [869800.194502] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.16.2-0-gea1b7a073390-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 [869800.197576] RIP: 0010:report_eb_range+0x44/0x60 [btrfs] [869800.198985] Code: 48 8b 7b 18 (...) [869800.203531] RSP: 0018:ffffce4541937d58 EFLAGS: 00010246 [869800.204609] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff8dde054b8738 RCX: 0000000000000000 [869800.206137] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000001 RDI: ffffffffc04c92a0 [869800.207645] RBP: 0000000000003e8f R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 3fffffffffefffff [869800.226175] R10: ffffce4541937a88 R11: 0000000000000003 R12: 000000000000656c [869800.227594] R13: ffff8dde14be800f R14: 000000000000656c R15: 0000000000000069 [869800.229097] FS: 00007f59023bb780(0000) GS:ffff8de5788ed000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [869800.231137] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [869800.232321] CR2: 0000558dc45e6a78 CR3: 0000000765b16004 CR4: 0000000000370ef0 [869800.233783] Call Trace: [869800.234330] <TASK> [869800.234791] read_extent_buffer+0x4d/0x100 [btrfs] [869800.235898] btrfs_listxattr+0x199/0x240 [btrfs] [869800.236912] vfs_listxattr+0x51/0 ---truncated---
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
Remediation
Upgrade the Linux kernel to 3.11, 3.13, 3.15, 3.19, 6.6.160, 6.12.113, 6.18.57, 7.2.11 or 7.3, depending on the release branch in use. The sources list no fixed version for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 (no fix planned), or for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, 8, 9 and 10 and Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 and 5 (none available).
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 3.11, 3.13, 3.15, 3.19
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.6.160, 6.12.113, 6.18.57, 7.2.11, 7.3
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Timeline
- 2026-10-23 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-98959
- 2026-10-23 Alias added: GHSA-cf5f-cwf6-82gc
- 2026-10-24 CVSS score added · CNA
- 2026-10-24 Priority changed: LOW → MEDIUM
- 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-11-06 CVSS score added · Red Hat
References
Other 5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7a53bb4668b319fc6c8a3ce2c21635125c7d2712
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5877d7138cc4359d26fd7b010eedfd1b3162348f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a97114b9b00ed3d05156f3b2ddbf797296260389
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c1803697a60f22743aa28ad522f805e92d45e3f0
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/858bee1c77857aabcc2327cd32dd8266332de332
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Sources
- CVE-2026-98959 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-98959 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-cf5f-cwf6-82gc · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-98959 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences