Description
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.
Published: 2026-09-24
Score: n/a
EPSS: n/a
KEV: No
Impact: n/a
Action: n/a
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History

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description 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.
Title btrfs: make sure EXTENT_BUFFER_READING is cleared under refs_lock
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References

Subscriptions

Linux Linux Kernel
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2026-09-24T15:51:42.056Z

Reserved: 2026-09-17T16:02:15.096Z

Link: CVE-2026-93255

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-09-24T16:17:22.007

Modified: 2026-09-24T16:17:22.007

Link: CVE-2026-93255

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.

Weaknesses

No weakness.