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CVE-2026-68442
btrfs: don't propagate EXTENT_FLAG_LOGGING to split extent maps
Published 2026-08-12 (2 months ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem fs/btrfs. Debian urgency: unimportant.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-68442 in every release this site tracks, and what each one means in practice. Every status below is the one the Debian Security Team publishes for this CVE. source
| Release | Status | Version | What this means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 12bookworm | not affected | 6.1.190-1 | Nothing to do. bookworm never shipped the vulnerable code. |
| Debian 13trixie | fixed | 6.12.101-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.12.101-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 7.1.6-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.1.6-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 12bookworm · linux-6.12 | fixedDLA-4745-1 · 2026-08-18 · text | 6.12.101-1~deb12u1 | Update the kernel and reboot. DLA-4745-1 shipped the fix on 2026-08-18, in 6.12.101-1~deb12u1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
When btrfs_drop_extent_map_range() splits an extent map, the new split maps inherit the original map's flags through a local 'flags' variable. Commit f86f7a75e2fb ("btrfs: use the flags of an extent map to identify the compression type") changed the EXTENT_FLAG_LOGGING clearing to operate on em->flags instead of that local 'flags' copy, so a split of an extent map that is currently being logged wrongly inherits EXTENT_FLAG_LOGGING. The flag is then never cleared on the split, and when it is freed while still on the inode's modified_extents list (for example by the extent map shrinker) it trips the WARN_ON(!list_empty(&em->list)) in btrfs_free_extent_map() and leads to a use-after-free. Clear EXTENT_FLAG_LOGGING from the local 'flags' copy used for the splits and only clear EXTENT_FLAG_PINNED from em->flags, restoring the behaviour prior to f86f7a75e2fb.
Where it lives
The fix touches these files. If the subsystem is one you do not use, the practical exposure is lower, though the package is still the vulnerable one.
fs/btrfs/extent_map.c
- What this is
- BTRFS FILE SYSTEMMAINTAINERS section matched on fs/btrfs/ · linux-btrfs@vger.kernel.org · Maintained
- Kernel module
- btrfs
Check it on the machine
grep -w CONFIG_BTRFS_FS /boot/config-$(uname -r)Reads the booted kernel's own configuration, on the machine and nowhere else. =y is built in, =m is a module, and an is not set line means the code is not there.
lsmod | grep -w btrfsPrints a line if that module is loaded right now, and nothing if it is not. One that is not loaded can still be loaded later by anything that needs it.
Show whether Debian builds this, per release
Debian builds this as a loadable module. Every release below compiles it as a module on every flavour, so whether the code is in the running kernel depends on whether that module is loaded.
- bookworm, trixie, forky, sid, bookworm · linux-6.12m
- m
- a loadable module on every flavour - check lsmod, can be blacklisted
- Build switch
- CONFIG_BTRFS_FS
From the configuration Debian publishes for every kernel flavour it builds. It covers only the architectures Debian ships a linux-config package for, and nothing about a kernel you built yourself. Debian's own status above stays authoritative about the source package.MAINTAINERS kbuild Makefiles Debian linux-config packages
Signals
- Published
- 2026-08-12 (2 months ago)source
- CVSS
- 7.8 high
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:Hsource recompute it - Attack vector
- local (AV:L)source
- EPSS
- 0.12%, higher than 1.5% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- unimportantsource
- Subsystem
- fs/btrfs
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 6.8 | 6.12.101 | 2a9246a424f4 |
| 6.8 | 6.18.42 | 9304713b70e7 |
| 6.8 | 7.1.6 | 0e465c63f103 |
| 6.8 | 7.2 | 5eff4d5b17fa |
Debian advisories
| Advisory | Date | Shipped to | Debian |
|---|---|---|---|
| DLA-4745-1 | 2026-08-18 | bookworm 6.12.101-1~deb12u1 | tracker |
Why the CNA scored it this way
Quoted from the kernel CNA's own scoring file, word for word. A highlighted metric carries the most severe value CVSS v3.1 defines for it, which is what pushes the score up. source
- AV:LAttack vector, local
- The bug is in the btrfs in-memory extent map code, reached only through local file operations (write/writeback, fallocate punch hole, truncate, clone, fsync) on a btrfs filesystem; no remote protocol data is involved.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- Although the flag is only mis-propagated while an fsync has an extent map flagged for logging, the attacker controls both sides of the race - one thread loops fsync() while another loops writes/punch-hole on the same file - and the resulting bogus map is then freed deterministically by any later drop of that range.
- PR:LPrivileges required, low
- Any unprivileged local user who can create and write a file on a btrfs filesystem (btrfs is the default root fs on several major distros, and /tmp or a home directory suffices) can drive the splitting and logging paths; no capabilities are required.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- The attacker performs all the required operations itself (write, punch hole, fsync on its own file); no victim action or administrator involvement is needed.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- The corruption is confined to kernel memory within the same security authority; there is no crossing of a VM, IOMMU, or other boundary.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- The freed extent_map stays linked in the inode's modified_extents list, so later traversal in btrfs_log_changed_extents() dereferences freed slab memory; an attacker who reallocates the object controls what is read back, giving a use-after-free read primitive usable to disclose kernel memory.
- I:HIntegrity impact, high
- The dangling list node is written through by list_del_init()/list_add_tail() during fsync, writing attacker-influenced pointers into and from a freed heap object; such list-corruption use-after-frees are the classic basis for arbitrary write and privilege escalation.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- The bug already trips WARN_ON(!list_empty(&em->list)) and then operates on freed memory, causing list corruption and an oops or panic (immediately fatal with panic_on_warn or list debugging enabled), which an unprivileged user can trigger repeatedly.