Linux Kernel up to 7.2.5 btrfs disk-io.c invalidate_and_check_btree_folios clear_reading use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability identified as critical has been detected in Linux Kernel up to 7.2.5. This vulnerability affects the function invalidate_and_check_btree_folios of the file disk-io.c of the component btrfs. Performing a manipulation of the argument clear_reading results in use after free. This vulnerability is reported as CVE-2026-93255. The attack requires a local approach. No exploit exists. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.2.5. This affects the function invalidate_and_check_btree_folios of the file disk-io.c of the component btrfs. The manipulation of the argument clear_reading with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: make sure EXTENT_BUFFER_READING is cleared under refs_lock [FALSE ALERTS] There is a bug report that the warning inside invalidate_and_check_btree_folios() got triggered during btrfs/298: BTRFS info (device sdd): first mount of filesystem f9bf732a-a19b-44b9-99a7-614ddff168e2 BTRFS info (device sdd): using crc32c checksum algorithm BTRFS error (device sdd): failed to find fsid cb2fdb42-b638-4f2f-badd-4127467ba674 when attempting to open seed devices BTRFS error (device sdd): failed to read chunk tree: -2 ------------[ cut here ]------------ WARNING: disk-io.c:3342 at invalidate_and_check_btree_folios+0x260/0x3c0 [btrfs], CPU#4: mount/125993 CPU: 4 UID: 0 PID: 125993 Comm: mount Tainted: G W OE 7.1.0-rc7-custom+ #1 PREEMPT(full) Hardware name: QEMU KVM Virtual Machine, BIOS edk2-20250812-19.fc42 08/12/2025 Call trace: invalidate_and_check_btree_folios+0x260/0x3c0 [btrfs] (P) open_ctree+0x1f50/0x23b0 [btrfs] btrfs_get_tree+0x89c/0xc48 [btrfs] vfs_get_tree+0x30/0x110 vfs_cmd_create+0x58/0xe8 __arm64_sys_fsconfig+0x39c/0x518 invoke_syscall.constprop.0+0x48/0x120 el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0x40/0xe8 do_el0_svc+0x24/0x38 el0_svc+0x50/0x310 el0t_64_sync_handler+0xa0/0xe8 el0t_64_sync+0x198/0x1a0 ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- BTRFS warning (device sdd): unable to release extent buffer 365985792 owner 3 gen 17 refs 3 flags 0x5 [CAUSE] In that invalidate_and_check_btree_folios() we wait for the eb to finish its read, then check if it's only held by us and the btree inode. If not, then do a warning as it may be still held, and could cause problems. But there is a small window where the check can lead to false alerts: Thread A (Read endio) | Thread B (Unmount) ----------------------------------+------------------------------------- end_bbio_meta_read() | | The eb has one extra ref held | | by the reader, and has | | EXTENT_BUFFER_READING flag set | invalidate_and_check_btree_folios() | | | |- clear_extent_buffer_reading() | | | | |- wait_on_bit_io(); | | | The EXTENT_BUFFER_READING flag is | | | cleared | | |- if (refcount_read(eb->refs) > 2) | | The eb is held by the read, us | | and btree inode, thus it | | will trigger the warning |- free_extent_buffer() | [FIX] Introduce a helper, free_extent_buffer_clear_reading(). If the new parameter, @clear_reading, is set, we will hold the spinlock at the beginning of free_extent_buffer_clear_reading() to make sure the EXTENT_BUFFER_READING flag is cleared inside the same critical section of decreasing refs. Now free_extent_buffer() will just call free_extent_buffer_clear_reading() with @clear_reading set to false, so no behavior change. But for end_bbio_meta_read(), it will not clear_extent_buffer_reading() directly, but pass @clear_reading as true. Then inside invalidate_and_check_btree_folios(), hold the refs_lock before reading refs. So that we eliminate the race window completely.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-93255 since 09/17/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. Attacking locally is a requirement. Additional levels of successful authentication are required for exploitation. It demands that the victim is doing some kind of user interaction. 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 09/24/2026).

Upgrading to version 7.2.6 or 7.3-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 2073f3d97b0c5d34fe64812d1237e37bd79c17ec/690c2accacb1aca91ab8186d15dee56da8723f31 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

• 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/

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