CVE-2026-23214 | btrfs: reject new transactions if the fs is fully read-only

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: reject new transactions if the fs is fully read-only [BUG] There is a bug report where a heavily fuzzed fs is mounted with all rescue mount options, which leads to the following warnings during unmount: BTRFS: Transaction aborted (error -22) Modules linked in: CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 9758 Comm: repro.out Not tainted 6.19.0-rc5-00002-gb71e635feefc #7 PREEMPT(full) Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.15.0-1 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:find_free_extent_update_loop fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c:4208 [inline] RIP: 0010:find_free_extent+0x52f0/0x5d20 fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c:4611 Call Trace: <TASK> btrfs_reserve_extent+0x2cd/0x790 fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c:4705 btrfs_alloc_tree_block+0x1e1/0x10e0 fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c:5157 btrfs_force_cow_block+0x578/0x2410 fs/btrfs/ctree.c:517 btrfs_cow_block+0x3c4/0xa80 fs/btrfs/ctree.c:708 btrfs_search_slot+0xcad/0x2b50 fs/btrfs/ctree.c:2130 btrfs_truncate_inode_items+0x45d/0x2350 fs/btrfs/inode-item.c:499 btrfs_evict_inode+0x923/0xe70 fs/btrfs/inode.c:5628 evict+0x5f4/0xae0 fs/inode.c:837 __dentry_kill+0x209/0x660 fs/dcache.c:670 finish_dput+0xc9/0x480 fs/dcache.c:879 shrink_dcache_for_umount+0xa0/0x170 fs/dcache.c:1661 generic_shutdown_super+0x67/0x2c0 fs/super.c:621 kill_anon_super+0x3b/0x70 fs/super.c:1289 btrfs_kill_super+0x41/0x50 fs/btrfs/super.c:2127 deactivate_locked_super+0xbc/0x130 fs/super.c:474 cleanup_mnt+0x425/0x4c0 fs/namespace.c:1318 task_work_run+0x1d4/0x260 kernel/task_work.c:233 exit_task_work include/linux/task_work.h:40 [inline] do_exit+0x694/0x22f0 kernel/exit.c:971 do_group_exit+0x21c/0x2d0 kernel/exit.c:1112 __do_sys_exit_group kernel/exit.c:1123 [inline] __se_sys_exit_group kernel/exit.c:1121 [inline] __x64_sys_exit_group+0x3f/0x40 kernel/exit.c:1121 x64_sys_call+0x2210/0x2210 arch/x86/include/generated/asm/syscalls_64.h:232 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xe8/0xf80 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f RIP: 0033:0x44f639 Code: Unable to access opcode bytes at 0x44f60f. RSP: 002b:00007ffc15c4e088 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 00000000000000e7 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00000000004c32f0 RCX: 000000000044f639 RDX: 000000000000003c RSI: 00000000000000e7 RDI: 0000000000000001 RBP: 0000000000000001 R08: ffffffffffffffc0 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 00000000004c32f0 R13: 0000000000000001 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 0000000000000001 </TASK> Since rescue mount options will mark the full fs read-only, there should be no new transaction triggered. But during unmount we will evict all inodes, which can trigger a new transaction, and triggers warnings on a heavily corrupted fs. [CAUSE] Btrfs allows new transaction even on a read-only fs, this is to allow log replay happen even on read-only mounts, just like what ext4/xfs do. However with rescue mount options, the fs is fully read-only and cannot be remounted read-write, thus in that case we should also reject any new transactions. [FIX] If we find the fs has rescue mount options, we should treat the fs as error, so that no new transaction can be started.

Published: 2026-02-18 Last update: 2026-03-18 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2026-23214 is rated Low Risk (23.3/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). 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-2026-23214

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 2026-02-19 0.02%

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-23214

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-2026-23214

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-23214

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2026-23214 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 4, open 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-23214
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-23214
suse medium CVE-2026-23214 severity moderate: SUSE including 473 source package names (2.1.3-6.124:kernel-default-base-6.4.0-40.1.21.17, 2.1.3-7.105:kernel-default-6.4.0-40.1, …), 725 product×package rows across 48 product lines (Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/base-os-container, Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/kvm-os-container, … (48 product lines)): Fixed 423, Known Affected 231, Known Not Affected 46, First Fixed 25. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-23214/
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-23214 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 173, needed 124, released 83, pending 5. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-23214

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-23214

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 6.12.70 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.18.10 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.19 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.19 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.19 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.19 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.19 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.19 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.19:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-23214

cvelogic Threat Intelligence