data built 2026-10-19T13:16:53Z

Look up another CVE · open CVE-2026-98079 in the interactive tracker

CVE-2026-98079

btrfs: zstd: fix lost wakeup when waiting for a workspace

EPSS 0.2%

Published 2026-09-25 (24 days ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem fs/btrfs. Debian urgency: not yet assigned.

What to do, per Debian release

Debian's own status for CVE-2026-98079 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

ReleaseStatus VersionWhat this means
Debian 12bookwormvulnerable6.1.190-1No fix published anywhere yet, neither in Debian nor upstream for the series bookworm tracks. Watch the Debian tracker page for this CVE. Advisories for bookworm have historically landed a median of 23 days after publication.
Debian 13trixievulnerable6.12.113-1No fix published anywhere yet, neither in Debian nor upstream for the series trixie tracks. Watch the Debian tracker page for this CVE. Advisories for trixie have historically landed a median of 11 days after publication.
Debian 14forkyfixed7.2.7-1Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.7-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts.
Debian unstablesidfixed7.2.7-1Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.7-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts.

The vulnerability

What the bug is

A writer can sleep forever in zstd_get_workspace() even though a workspace is free. When zstd_alloc_workspace() fails, the task is queued on zwsm->wait and schedules unconditionally, never re-testing the pool. zstd_put_workspace() publishes the workspace and then calls cond_wake_up(), which only wakes when a sleeper is already visible, so a workspace returned between the failed allocation and prepare_to_wait() wakes nobody. The window is wide: zstd_alloc_workspace() goes through kvmalloc() and may enter reclaim. Only a max level workspace triggers the wakeup and one is deliberately kept allocated as the fallback every waiter waits for, so once its wakeup is lost the writer stays in TASK_UNINTERRUPTIBLE until some other task happens to return one. Re-check the pool after prepare_to_wait() has published the waiter, and use the workspace if one turned up.

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/zstd.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 btrfs

Prints 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, sidm
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
2026-09-25 (24 days ago)source
CVSS
no vector published, unrated
Attack vector
not published
EPSS
0.20%, higher than 8.9% of all CVEssource
CISA KEV
not listedthe KEV catalogue
Debian urgency
not yet assignedsource
Subsystem
fs/btrfs

Upstream fixes

The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source

IntroducedFixed inCommit
5.16.18.53d8f570495219
5.17.2.70de9f31d447a
5.17.32acb9f3d1cc8

Why the CNA scored it this way

The kernel CNA published no CVSS vector and no reasoning for CVE-2026-98079, which is why it is shown as unrated rather than given an invented score. 6,405 of the 20,413 CVEs here carry reasoning; this is not one of them.