CVE-2026-23036 | btrfs: release path before iget_failed() in btrfs_read_locked_inode()

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: release path before iget_failed() in btrfs_read_locked_inode() In btrfs_read_locked_inode() if we fail to lookup the inode, we jump to the 'out' label with a path that has a read locked leaf and then we call iget_failed(). This can result in a ABBA deadlock, since iget_failed() triggers inode eviction and that causes the release of the delayed inode, which must lock the delayed inode's mutex, and a task updating a delayed inode starts by taking the node's mutex and then modifying the inode's subvolume btree. Syzbot reported the following lockdep splat for this: ====================================================== WARNING: possible circular locking dependency detected syzkaller #0 Not tainted ------------------------------------------------------ btrfs-cleaner/8725 is trying to acquire lock: ffff0000d6826a48 (&delayed_node->mutex){+.+.}-{4:4}, at: __btrfs_release_delayed_node+0xa0/0x9b0 fs/btrfs/delayed-inode.c:290 but task is already holding lock: ffff0000dbeba878 (btrfs-tree-00){++++}-{4:4}, at: btrfs_tree_read_lock_nested+0x44/0x2ec fs/btrfs/locking.c:145 which lock already depends on the new lock. the existing dependency chain (in reverse order) is: -> #1 (btrfs-tree-00){++++}-{4:4}: __lock_release kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5574 [inline] lock_release+0x198/0x39c kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5889 up_read+0x24/0x3c kernel/locking/rwsem.c:1632 btrfs_tree_read_unlock+0xdc/0x298 fs/btrfs/locking.c:169 btrfs_tree_unlock_rw fs/btrfs/locking.h:218 [inline] btrfs_search_slot+0xa6c/0x223c fs/btrfs/ctree.c:2133 btrfs_lookup_inode+0xd8/0x38c fs/btrfs/inode-item.c:395 __btrfs_update_delayed_inode+0x124/0xed0 fs/btrfs/delayed-inode.c:1032 btrfs_update_delayed_inode fs/btrfs/delayed-inode.c:1118 [inline] __btrfs_commit_inode_delayed_items+0x15f8/0x1748 fs/btrfs/delayed-inode.c:1141 __btrfs_run_delayed_items+0x1ac/0x514 fs/btrfs/delayed-inode.c:1176 btrfs_run_delayed_items_nr+0x28/0x38 fs/btrfs/delayed-inode.c:1219 flush_space+0x26c/0xb68 fs/btrfs/space-info.c:828 do_async_reclaim_metadata_space+0x110/0x364 fs/btrfs/space-info.c:1158 btrfs_async_reclaim_metadata_space+0x90/0xd8 fs/btrfs/space-info.c:1226 process_one_work+0x7e8/0x155c kernel/workqueue.c:3263 process_scheduled_works kernel/workqueue.c:3346 [inline] worker_thread+0x958/0xed8 kernel/workqueue.c:3427 kthread+0x5fc/0x75c kernel/kthread.c:463 ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 arch/arm64/kernel/entry.S:844 -> #0 (&delayed_node->mutex){+.+.}-{4:4}: check_prev_add kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3165 [inline] check_prevs_add kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3284 [inline] validate_chain kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3908 [inline] __lock_acquire+0x1774/0x30a4 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5237 lock_acquire+0x14c/0x2e0 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5868 __mutex_lock_common+0x1d0/0x2678 kernel/locking/mutex.c:598 __mutex_lock kernel/locking/mutex.c:760 [inline] mutex_lock_nested+0x2c/0x38 kernel/locking/mutex.c:812 __btrfs_release_delayed_node+0xa0/0x9b0 fs/btrfs/delayed-inode.c:290 btrfs_release_delayed_node fs/btrfs/delayed-inode.c:315 [inline] btrfs_remove_delayed_node+0x68/0x84 fs/btrfs/delayed-inode.c:1326 btrfs_evict_inode+0x578/0xe28 fs/btrfs/inode.c:5587 evict+0x414/0x928 fs/inode.c:810 iput_final fs/inode.c:1914 [inline] iput+0x95c/0xad4 fs/inode.c:1966 iget_failed+0xec/0x134 fs/bad_inode.c:248 btrfs_read_locked_inode+0xe1c/0x1234 fs/btrfs/inode.c:4101 btrfs_iget+0x1b0/0x264 fs/btrfs/inode.c:5837 btrfs_run_defrag_inode fs/btrfs/defrag.c:237 [inline] btrfs_run_defrag_inodes+0x520/0xdc4 fs/btrf ---truncated---

Published: 2026-01-31 Last update: 2026-04-15 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2026-23036 is rated Low Risk (3.9/100): low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). Mandatory action: Low composite risk—no urgent action required; patch on your normal maintenance cycle and revisit priority if CVSS or EPSS increases.

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-2026-23036

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 2026-01-31 0.02%

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-23036

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

No CVSS data in dataset for this CVE.

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-23036

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-23036

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2026-23036 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-2026-23036
redhat low https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-23036
suse medium CVE-2026-23036 severity moderate: SUSE including 26 source package names (cluster-md-kmp-default, dlm-kmp-default, …), 230 product×package rows across 40 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7, SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS, … (40 product lines)): Known Not Affected 230. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-23036/
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-23036 medium priority: Ubuntu including 157 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1256 status rows across 8 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 871, ignored 169, not-affected 112, released 83, needed 21. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-23036

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-23036

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
No affected products in dataset.

References for CVE-2026-23036

cvelogic Threat Intelligence