CVE-2022-49079 | btrfs: zoned: traverse devices under chunk_mutex in btrfs_can_activate_zone

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: zoned: traverse devices under chunk_mutex in btrfs_can_activate_zone btrfs_can_activate_zone() can be called with the device_list_mutex already held, which will lead to a deadlock: insert_dev_extents() // Takes device_list_mutex `-> insert_dev_extent() `-> btrfs_insert_empty_item() `-> btrfs_insert_empty_items() `-> btrfs_search_slot() `-> btrfs_cow_block() `-> __btrfs_cow_block() `-> btrfs_alloc_tree_block() `-> btrfs_reserve_extent() `-> find_free_extent() `-> find_free_extent_update_loop() `-> can_allocate_chunk() `-> btrfs_can_activate_zone() // Takes device_list_mutex again Instead of using the RCU on fs_devices->device_list we can use fs_devices->alloc_list, protected by the chunk_mutex to traverse the list of active devices. We are in the chunk allocation thread. The newer chunk allocation happens from the devices in the fs_device->alloc_list protected by the chunk_mutex. btrfs_create_chunk() lockdep_assert_held(&info->chunk_mutex); gather_device_info list_for_each_entry(device, &fs_devices->alloc_list, dev_alloc_list) Also, a device that reappears after the mount won't join the alloc_list yet and, it will be in the dev_list, which we don't want to consider in the context of the chunk alloc. [15.166572] WARNING: possible recursive locking detected [15.167117] 5.17.0-rc6-dennis #79 Not tainted [15.167487] -------------------------------------------- [15.167733] kworker/u8:3/146 is trying to acquire lock: [15.167733] ffff888102962ee0 (&fs_devs->device_list_mutex){+.+.}-{3:3}, at: find_free_extent+0x15a/0x14f0 [btrfs] [15.167733] [15.167733] but task is already holding lock: [15.167733] ffff888102962ee0 (&fs_devs->device_list_mutex){+.+.}-{3:3}, at: btrfs_create_pending_block_groups+0x20a/0x560 [btrfs] [15.167733] [15.167733] other info that might help us debug this: [15.167733] Possible unsafe locking scenario: [15.167733] [15.171834] CPU0 [15.171834] ---- [15.171834] lock(&fs_devs->device_list_mutex); [15.171834] lock(&fs_devs->device_list_mutex); [15.171834] [15.171834] *** DEADLOCK *** [15.171834] [15.171834] May be due to missing lock nesting notation [15.171834] [15.171834] 5 locks held by kworker/u8:3/146: [15.171834] #0: ffff888100050938 ((wq_completion)events_unbound){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: process_one_work+0x1c3/0x5a0 [15.171834] #1: ffffc9000067be80 ((work_completion)(&fs_info->async_data_reclaim_work)){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: process_one_work+0x1c3/0x5a0 [15.176244] #2: ffff88810521e620 (sb_internal){.+.+}-{0:0}, at: flush_space+0x335/0x600 [btrfs] [15.176244] #3: ffff888102962ee0 (&fs_devs->device_list_mutex){+.+.}-{3:3}, at: btrfs_create_pending_block_groups+0x20a/0x560 [btrfs] [15.176244] #4: ffff8881152e4b78 (btrfs-dev-00){++++}-{3:3}, at: __btrfs_tree_lock+0x27/0x130 [btrfs] [15.179641] [15.179641] stack backtrace: [15.179641] CPU: 1 PID: 146 Comm: kworker/u8:3 Not tainted 5.17.0-rc6-dennis #79 [15.179641] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.15.0-1.fc35 04/01/2014 [15.179641] Workqueue: events_unbound btrfs_async_reclaim_data_space [btrfs] [15.179641] Call Trace: [15.179641] <TASK> [15.179641] dump_stack_lvl+0x45/0x59 [15.179641] __lock_acquire.cold+0x217/0x2b2 [15.179641] lock_acquire+0xbf/0x2b0 [15.183838] ? find_free_extent+0x15a/0x14f0 [btrfs] [15.183838] __mutex_lock+0x8e/0x970 [15.183838] ? find_free_extent+0x15a/0x14f0 [btrfs] [15.183838] ? find_free_extent+0x15a/0x14f0 [btrfs] [15.183838] ? lock_is_held_type+0xd7/0x130 [15.183838] ? find_free_extent+0x15a/0x14f0 [btrfs] [15.183838] find_free_extent+0x15a/0x14f0 [btrfs] [15.183838] ? _raw_spin_unlock+0x24/0x40 [15.183838] ? btrfs_get_alloc_profile+0x106/0x230 [btrfs] [15.187601] btrfs_reserve_extent+0x131/0x260 [btrfs] [15. ---truncated---

Published: 2025-02-26 Last update: 2025-10-14 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2022-49079 is rated Low Risk (24.4/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.17%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2022-49079

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.04% 0.17% +0.13%
2 2026-04-12 0.06% 0.04% -0.02%
3 2026-04-06 0.06%

Full EPSS history (4 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-49079

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2022-49079

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-49079

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2022-49079 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2022-49079
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-49079
suse medium CVE-2022-49079 severity moderate: SUSE including 26 source package names (cluster-md-kmp-default, dlm-kmp-default, …), 245 product×package rows across 46 product lines (SLES-LTSS-TERADATA 15 SP2, SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 12 SP5, … (46 product lines)): Known Not Affected 245. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-49079/
ubuntu medium CVE-2022-49079 medium priority: Ubuntu including 128 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1024 status rows across 8 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 702, ignored 146, not-affected 114, released 62. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-49079

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-49079

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 5.16.20 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.17, < 5.17.3 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 5.18 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.18:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2022-49079

cvelogic Threat Intelligence