Linux Kernel up to 6.18.51/7.2.5 btrfs fs/btrfs/ordered-data.c lock_and_cleanup_extent_if_need race condition

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4.2	$0-$5k	0.00-

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.51/7.2.5. It has been declared as problematic. This issue affects the function lock_and_cleanup_extent_if_need of the file fs/btrfs/ordered-data.c of the component btrfs. Executing a manipulation can lead to race condition. This vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2026-90264. The attack is restricted to local execution. No exploit exists. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.51/7.2.5. It has been declared as problematic. This vulnerability affects the function lock_and_cleanup_extent_if_need of the file fs/btrfs/ordered-data.c of the component btrfs. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a race condition vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-362. The product contains a code sequence that can run concurrently with other code, and the code sequence requires temporary, exclusive access to a shared resource, but a timing window exists in which the shared resource can be modified by another code sequence that is operating concurrently. As an impact it is known to affect integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: always wait for ordered extents to avoid OE races [BUG] Syzbot reported a bug that there can be conflicting OEs for the same range: BTRFS critical (device loop4): panic in insert_ordered_extent:264: overlapping ordered extents, existing oe file_offset 16384 num_bytes 430080 flags 0x1089, new oe file_offset 16384 num_bytes 430080 flags 0x80 (errno=-17 Object alrea[ 179.162726][ T6897] BTRFS critical (device loop4): panic in insert_ordered_extent:264: overlapping ordered extents, existing oe file_offset 16384 num_bytes 430080 flags 0x1089, new oe file_offset 16384 num_bytes 430080 flags 0x80 (errno=-17 Object already exists) ------------[ cut here ]------------ kernel BUG at fs/btrfs/ordered-data.c:264! Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 05/09/2026 RIP: 0010:btrfs_alloc_ordered_extent+0x943/0xad0 Call Trace: <TASK> cow_file_range+0x744/0x12a0 fallback_to_cow+0x5ea/0xa00 run_delalloc_nocow+0x110c/0x17a0 btrfs_run_delalloc_range+0xbe4/0x1c20 writepage_delalloc+0x104d/0x1ba0 btrfs_writepages+0x1667/0x28b0 do_writepages+0x338/0x560 filemap_fdatawrite_range+0x1f2/0x300 btrfs_fdatawrite_range+0x54/0xf0 btrfs_direct_write+0x6a0/0xc30 btrfs_do_write_iter+0x329/0x790 do_iter_readv_writev+0x624/0x8d0 vfs_writev+0x34c/0x990 __se_sys_pwritev2+0x17a/0x2a0 do_syscall_64+0x174/0x580 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f </TASK> ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- [CAUSE] Since commit ff66fe666233 ("btrfs: fix incorrect buffered IO fallback for append direct writes"), if the direct IO finished short, we will revert the isize back to the original one, so that append writes can be respected during the buffered fallback. Normally we rely on lock_and_cleanup_extent_if_need() function during buffered writeback to wait for any existing ordered extents. But that ordered extent waiting only happens if the start_pos is inside the isize. Since we have reverted the isize during failed direct IO, we will not wait for any ordered extents. This means we can have a race where the direct IO OE is still in the tree, finished but not yet removed, then we're inserting the OE for the buffered write, causing the above crash. [FIX] Make the OE wait to be unconditional, to handle the reverted isize situation. And since lock_and_cleanup_extent_if_need() now either lock the extents or return -EAGAIN, also remove the branches that handles no-extent-locked cases, and rename it to remove the "_if_need" suffix. The following micro benchmark shows the runtime difference for btrfs_buffered_write(), doing `xfs_io -f -c "pwrite 0 1m"` workload, all values are the average runtime in nano seconds. function runtime | before | after -----------------------------------+-------------+--------------- lock_and_cleanup_extent_if_need() | 58.2 | 183.0 btrfs_buffered_write() | 2115.6 | 2973.3 The overall runtime of btrfs_buffered_write() is still pretty tiny (still less than 3 micro seconds), I'd say the extra cost is still acceptable. An alternative to fix this problem is to wait ordered extents during iomap_end() where the isize revert is done. But that solution will break nowait requirement, as if a nowait direct IO finished short, we have to wait for the OEs unconditionally or the next append buffered IO can still hit the same problem. So here we have to move the wait cost to buffered write, but at least the code is slightly more streamline.

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability was named CVE-2026-90264 since 09/11/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. Local access is required to approach this attack. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit.

Upgrading to version 6.18.52, 7.2.6 or 7.3-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 58ce50b1802a446d3b26df1b9c58be1ab8913d0e/aaac9b352f7f53f5d2f7e58e612d67d2a2bf7094/ec78575dde998c21be7e0cb2503b5620f34b6255 is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.18.0
• 6.18.1
• 6.18.2
• 6.18.3
• 6.18.4
• 6.18.5
• 6.18.6
• 6.18.7
• 6.18.8
• 6.18.9
• 6.18.10
• 6.18.11
• 6.18.12
• 6.18.13
• 6.18.14
• 6.18.15
• 6.18.16
• 6.18.17
• 6.18.18
• 6.18.19
• 6.18.20
• 6.18.21
• 6.18.22
• 6.18.23
• 6.18.24
• 6.18.25
• 6.18.26
• 6.18.27
• 6.18.28
• 6.18.29
• 6.18.30
• 6.18.31
• 6.18.32
• 6.18.33
• 6.18.34
• 6.18.35
• 6.18.36
• 6.18.37
• 6.18.38
• 6.18.39
• 6.18.40
• 6.18.41
• 6.18.42
• 6.18.43
• 6.18.44
• 6.18.45
• 6.18.46
• 6.18.47
• 6.18.48
• 6.18.49
• 6.18.50
• 6.18.51
• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3
• 7.2.4
• 7.2.5

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 4.4
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 4.2

VulDB Base Score: 4.4
VulDB Temp Score: 4.2
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
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VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Race condition
CWE: CWE-362
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: No

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined
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 6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc1
Patch: 58ce50b1802a446d3b26df1b9c58be1ab8913d0e/aaac9b352f7f53f5d2f7e58e612d67d2a2bf7094/ec78575dde998c21be7e0cb2503b5620f34b6255

Timelineinfo

09/11/2026 CVE reserved
09/17/2026 +6 days Advisory disclosed
09/17/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
09/17/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-90264 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-90264
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-406762

Entryinfo

Created: 09/17/2026 21:00
Changes: 09/17/2026 21:00 (60)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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Discussion

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