Linux Kernel up to 6.19-rc4 fs/btrfs/inode.c btrfs_log_new_name privilege escalation

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5.4$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.160/6.6.120/6.12.65/6.18.5/6.19-rc4. It has been classified as critical. This affects the function btrfs_log_new_name of the file fs/btrfs/inode.c. Performing a manipulation results in an unknown weakness. This vulnerability was named CVE-2025-71183. There is no available exploit. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.160/6.6.120/6.12.65/6.18.5/6.19-rc4. This affects the function btrfs_log_new_name of the file fs/btrfs/inode.c. The impact remains unknown. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: always detect conflicting inodes when logging inode refs After rename exchanging (either with the rename exchange operation or regular renames in multiple non-atomic steps) two inodes and at least one of them is a directory, we can end up with a log tree that contains only of the inodes and after a power failure that can result in an attempt to delete the other inode when it should not because it was not deleted before the power failure. In some case that delete attempt fails when the target inode is a directory that contains a subvolume inside it, since the log replay code is not prepared to deal with directory entries that point to root items (only inode items). 1) We have directories "dir1" (inode A) and "dir2" (inode B) under the same parent directory; 2) We have a file (inode C) under directory "dir1" (inode A); 3) We have a subvolume inside directory "dir2" (inode B); 4) All these inodes were persisted in a past transaction and we are currently at transaction N; 5) We rename the file (inode C), so at btrfs_log_new_name() we update inode C's last_unlink_trans to N; 6) We get a rename exchange for "dir1" (inode A) and "dir2" (inode B), so after the exchange "dir1" is inode B and "dir2" is inode A. During the rename exchange we call btrfs_log_new_name() for inodes A and B, but because they are directories, we don't update their last_unlink_trans to N; 7) An fsync against the file (inode C) is done, and because its inode has a last_unlink_trans with a value of N we log its parent directory (inode A) (through btrfs_log_all_parents(), called from btrfs_log_inode_parent()). 8) So we end up with inode B not logged, which now has the old name of inode A. At copy_inode_items_to_log(), when logging inode A, we did not check if we had any conflicting inode to log because inode A has a generation lower than the current transaction (created in a past transaction); 9) After a power failure, when replaying the log tree, since we find that inode A has a new name that conflicts with the name of inode B in the fs tree, we attempt to delete inode B... this is wrong since that directory was never deleted before the power failure, and because there is a subvolume inside that directory, attempting to delete it will fail since replay_dir_deletes() and btrfs_unlink_inode() are not prepared to deal with dir items that point to roots instead of inodes. When that happens the mount fails and we get a stack trace like the following: [87.2314] BTRFS info (device dm-0): start tree-log replay [87.2318] BTRFS critical (device dm-0): failed to delete reference to subvol, root 5 inode 256 parent 259 [87.2332] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [87.2338] BTRFS: Transaction aborted (error -2) [87.2346] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 638968 at fs/btrfs/inode.c:4345 __btrfs_unlink_inode+0x416/0x440 [btrfs] [87.2368] Modules linked in: btrfs loop dm_thin_pool (...) [87.2470] CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 638968 Comm: mount Tainted: G W 6.18.0-rc7-btrfs-next-218+ #2 PREEMPT(full) [87.2489] Tainted: [W]=WARN [87.2494] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.16.2-0-gea1b7a073390-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 [87.2514] RIP: 0010:__btrfs_unlink_inode+0x416/0x440 [btrfs] [87.2538] Code: c0 89 04 24 (...) [87.2568] RSP: 0018:ffffc0e741f4b9b8 EFLAGS: 00010286 [87.2574] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff9d3ec8a6cf60 RCX: 0000000000000000 [87.2582] RDX: 0000000000000002 RSI: ffffffff84ab45a1 RDI: 00000000ffffffff [87.2591] RBP: ffff9d3ec8a6ef20 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: ffffc0e741f4b840 [87.2599] R10: ffff9d45dc1fffa8 R11: 0000000000000003 R12: ffff9d3ee26d77e0 [87.2608] R13: ffffc0e741f4ba98 R14: ffff9d4458040800 R15: ffff9d44b6b7ca10 [87.2618] FS: 00007f7b9603a840(0000) GS:ffff9d4658982000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [87. ---truncated---

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2025-71183 since 01/31/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 03/26/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 297472 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-71183), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.1.161, 6.6.121, 6.12.66, 6.18.6 or 6.19-rc5 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch c7f0207db68d5a1b4af23acbef1a8e8ddc431ebb/a63998cd6687c14b160dccb0bbcf281b2eb0dab3/0c2413c69129f6ce60157f7b53d9ba880260400b/d52af58dd463821c5c516aebb031a58934f696ea/7ba0b6461bc4edb3005ea6e00cdae189bcf908a5 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (297472), EUVD (EUVD-2025-206592) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-0280). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Affected

  • Open Source Linux Kernel

Productinfo

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CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 5.5
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 5.4

VulDB Base Score: 5.5
VulDB Temp Score: 5.3
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 5.5
NVD Vector: 🔒

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
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VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Privilege escalation
CWE: Unknown
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Partially

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

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Nessus ID: 297472
Nessus Name: Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-71183

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.1.161/6.6.121/6.12.66/6.18.6/6.19-rc5
Patch: c7f0207db68d5a1b4af23acbef1a8e8ddc431ebb/a63998cd6687c14b160dccb0bbcf281b2eb0dab3/0c2413c69129f6ce60157f7b53d9ba880260400b/d52af58dd463821c5c516aebb031a58934f696ea/7ba0b6461bc4edb3005ea6e00cdae189bcf908a5

Timelineinfo

01/31/2026 Advisory disclosed
01/31/2026 +0 days CVE reserved
01/31/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
03/26/2026 +54 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2025-71183 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2025-71183
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-343593
EUVD: 🔒
CERT Bund: WID-SEC-2026-0280 - Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen

Entryinfo

Created: 01/31/2026 15:12
Updated: 03/26/2026 01:17
Changes: 01/31/2026 15:12 (58), 02/01/2026 03:33 (1), 02/01/2026 07:36 (2), 02/02/2026 16:07 (7), 03/26/2026 01:17 (11)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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