Linux Kernel up to 7.1.4 f2fs f2fs_balance_fs deadlock

CVSS Meta Temp Score
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CTI Interest Score
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6.2$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 7.1.4. Affected by this issue is the function f2fs_balance_fs of the component f2fs. This manipulation causes deadlock. This vulnerability appears as CVE-2026-68460. The attack may be initiated remotely. There is no available exploit. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.1.4. It has been declared as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function f2fs_balance_fs of the component f2fs. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a deadlock vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-833. The product contains multiple threads or executable segments that are waiting for each other to release a necessary lock, resulting in deadlock. As an impact it is known to affect availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: f2fs: fix potential deadlock in f2fs_balance_fs() When the f2fs filesystem space is nearly exhausted, we encounter deadlock issues as below: INFO: task A:1890 blocked for more than 120 seconds. Tainted: G O 6.12.41-g3fe07ddf05ab #1 "echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message. task:A state:D stack:0 pid:1890 tgid:1626 ppid:1153 flags:0x00000204 Call trace: __switch_to+0xf4/0x158 __schedule+0x27c/0x908 schedule+0x3c/0x118 io_schedule+0x44/0x68 folio_wait_bit_common+0x174/0x370 folio_wait_bit+0x20/0x38 folio_wait_writeback+0x54/0xc8 truncate_inode_partial_folio+0x70/0x1e0 truncate_inode_pages_range+0x1b0/0x450 truncate_pagecache+0x54/0x88 f2fs_file_write_iter+0x3e8/0xb80 do_iter_readv_writev+0xf0/0x1e0 vfs_writev+0x138/0x2c8 do_writev+0x88/0x130 __arm64_sys_writev+0x28/0x40 invoke_syscall+0x50/0x120 el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0xc8/0xf0 do_el0_svc+0x24/0x38 el0_svc+0x30/0xf8 el0t_64_sync_handler+0x120/0x130 el0t_64_sync+0x190/0x198 INFO: task kworker/u8:11:2680853 blocked for more than 120 seconds. Tainted: G O 6.12.41-g3fe07ddf05ab #1 "echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message. task:kworker/u8:11 state:D stack:0 pid:2680853 tgid:2680853 ppid:2 flags:0x00000208 Workqueue: writeback wb_workfn (flush-254:0) Call trace: __switch_to+0xf4/0x158 __schedule+0x27c/0x908 schedule+0x3c/0x118 io_schedule+0x44/0x68 folio_wait_bit_common+0x174/0x370 __filemap_get_folio+0x214/0x348 pagecache_get_page+0x20/0x70 f2fs_get_read_data_page+0x150/0x3e8 f2fs_get_lock_data_page+0x2c/0x160 move_data_page+0x50/0x478 do_garbage_collect+0xd38/0x1528 f2fs_gc+0x240/0x7e0 f2fs_balance_fs+0x1a0/0x208 f2fs_write_single_data_page+0x6e4/0x730 f2fs_write_cache_pages+0x378/0x9b0 f2fs_write_data_pages+0x2e4/0x388 do_writepages+0x8c/0x2c8 __writeback_single_inode+0x4c/0x498 writeback_sb_inodes+0x234/0x4a8 __writeback_inodes_wb+0x58/0x118 wb_writeback+0x2f8/0x3c0 wb_workfn+0x2c4/0x508 process_one_work+0x180/0x408 worker_thread+0x258/0x368 kthread+0x118/0x128 ret_from_fork+0x10/0x200 INFO: task kworker/u8:8:2641297 blocked for more than 120 seconds. Tainted: G O 6.12.41-g3fe07ddf05ab #1 "echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message. task:kworker/u8:8 state:D stack:0 pid:2641297 tgid:2641297 ppid:2 flags:0x00000208 Workqueue: writeback wb_workfn (flush-254:0) Call trace: __switch_to+0xf4/0x158 __schedule+0x27c/0x908 rt_mutex_schedule+0x30/0x60 __rt_mutex_slowlock_locked.constprop.0+0x460/0x8a8 rwbase_write_lock+0x24c/0x378 down_write+0x1c/0x30 f2fs_balance_fs+0x184/0x208 f2fs_write_inode+0xf4/0x328 __writeback_single_inode+0x370/0x498 writeback_sb_inodes+0x234/0x4a8 __writeback_inodes_wb+0x58/0x118 wb_writeback+0x2f8/0x3c0 wb_workfn+0x2c4/0x508 process_one_work+0x180/0x408 worker_thread+0x258/0x368 kthread+0x118/0x128 ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 INFO: task B:1902 blocked for more than 120 seconds. Tainted: G O 6.12.41-g3fe07ddf05ab #1 "echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message. task:B state:D stack:0 pid:1902 tgid:1626 ppid:1153 flags:0x0000020c Call trace: __switch_to+0xf4/0x158 __schedule+0x27c/0x908 rt_mutex_schedule+0x30/0x60 __rt_mutex_slowlock_locked.constprop.0+0x460/0x8a8 rwbase_write_lock+0x24c/0x378 down_write+0x1c/0x30 f2fs_balance_fs+0x184/0x208 f2fs_map_blocks+0x94c/0x1110 f2fs_file_write_iter+0x228/0xb80 do_iter_readv_writev+0xf0/0x1e0 vfs_writev+0x138/0x2c8 do_writev+0x88/0x130 __arm64_sys_writev+0x28/0x40 invoke_syscall+0x50/0x120 el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0xc8/0xf0 do_el0_svc+0x24/0x38 el0_svc+0x30/0xf8 el0t_64_sync_handler+0x120/0x130 el0t_64_sync+0x190/0x198 INFO: task sync:2769849 blocked for more than 120 seconds. Tainted: G ---truncated---

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-68460 since 07/30/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be launched remotely. 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 09/02/2026). MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1499 for this issue.

Upgrading to version 5.10.261, 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.145, 6.12.96, 6.18.39, 7.1.5 or 7.2-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 162d57d8eb8440ad2d90469bf2c116abb04a9d33/f51db99287b5acf81513ece82a0c95eb5db008e3/e273116fbb6dfd7f027c0623e7c5109241be1919/345c1d1ff751104ebdc32c145be80de566c5150f/44480f7e3f8369671452c0d262831c51aa5a9c20/998536c96b6ad9d99cd85dea11452ab83dc7c88d/cf8b5937b7b258927ccca267995e13e76a07b38e/dd3114870771562036fdcf5abe813956f36d224d is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-2852). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Affected

  • Debian Linux
  • Amazon Linux 2
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux
  • Open Source Linux Kernel

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 6.5
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 6.2

VulDB Base Score: 6.5
VulDB Temp Score: 6.2
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

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

Exploitinginfo

Class: Deadlock
CWE: CWE-833 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

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Threat Intelligenceinfo

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

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 5.10.261/5.15.212/6.1.178/6.6.145/6.12.96/6.18.39/7.1.5/7.2-rc1
Patch: 162d57d8eb8440ad2d90469bf2c116abb04a9d33/f51db99287b5acf81513ece82a0c95eb5db008e3/e273116fbb6dfd7f027c0623e7c5109241be1919/345c1d1ff751104ebdc32c145be80de566c5150f/44480f7e3f8369671452c0d262831c51aa5a9c20/998536c96b6ad9d99cd85dea11452ab83dc7c88d/cf8b5937b7b258927ccca267995e13e76a07b38e/dd3114870771562036fdcf5abe813956f36d224d

Timelineinfo

07/30/2026 CVE reserved
08/15/2026 +16 days Advisory disclosed
08/15/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
09/02/2026 +17 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-68460 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-68460
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-390193
CERT Bund: WID-SEC-2026-2852 - Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen

Entryinfo

Created: 08/15/2026 08:14
Updated: 09/02/2026 00:48
Changes: 08/15/2026 08:14 (59), 08/25/2026 15:13 (7), 09/02/2026 00:48 (1)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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

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