Linux Kernel up to 6.6.121/6.12.66/6.18.6 btrfs range_is_hole_in_parent disk_bytenr memory corruption

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability identified as critical has been detected in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.121/6.12.66/6.18.6. This vulnerability affects the function range_is_hole_in_parent of the component btrfs. The manipulation of the argument disk_bytenr leads to memory corruption. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-23141. There is no exploit available. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.121/6.12.66/6.18.6 and classified as critical. This issue affects the function range_is_hole_in_parent of the component btrfs. The manipulation of the argument disk_bytenr with an unknown input leads to a memory corruption vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-119. The product performs operations on a memory buffer, but it can read from or write to a memory location that is outside of the intended boundary of the buffer. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: send: check for inline extents in range_is_hole_in_parent() Before accessing the disk_bytenr field of a file extent item we need to check if we are dealing with an inline extent. This is because for inline extents their data starts at the offset of the disk_bytenr field. So accessing the disk_bytenr means we are accessing inline data or in case the inline data is less than 8 bytes we can actually cause an invalid memory access if this inline extent item is the first item in the leaf or access metadata from other items.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-23141 since 01/13/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 03/18/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 299074 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-23141), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.6.122, 6.12.67 or 6.18.7 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch f2dc6ab3a14c2d2eb0b14783427eb9b03bf631c9/db00636643e66898d79f2530ac9c56ebd5eca369/39f83f10772310ba4a77f2b5256aaf36994ef7e8/08b096c1372cd69627f4f559fb47c9fb67a52b39 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 vulnerability database at Tenable (299074). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.6.121
• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4
• 6.12.5
• 6.12.6
• 6.12.7
• 6.12.8
• 6.12.9
• 6.12.10
• 6.12.11
• 6.12.12
• 6.12.13
• 6.12.14
• 6.12.15
• 6.12.16
• 6.12.17
• 6.12.18
• 6.12.19
• 6.12.20
• 6.12.21
• 6.12.22
• 6.12.23
• 6.12.24
• 6.12.25
• 6.12.26
• 6.12.27
• 6.12.28
• 6.12.29
• 6.12.30
• 6.12.31
• 6.12.32
• 6.12.33
• 6.12.34
• 6.12.35
• 6.12.36
• 6.12.37
• 6.12.38
• 6.12.39
• 6.12.40
• 6.12.41
• 6.12.42
• 6.12.43
• 6.12.44
• 6.12.45
• 6.12.46
• 6.12.47
• 6.12.48
• 6.12.49
• 6.12.50
• 6.12.51
• 6.12.52
• 6.12.53
• 6.12.54
• 6.12.55
• 6.12.56
• 6.12.57
• 6.12.58
• 6.12.59
• 6.12.60
• 6.12.61
• 6.12.62
• 6.12.63
• 6.12.64
• 6.12.65
• 6.12.66
• 6.18.0
• 6.18.1
• 6.18.2
• 6.18.3
• 6.18.4
• 6.18.5
• 6.18.6

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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