CVE-2026-46251 | btrfs: fix block_group_tree dirty_list corruption

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: fix block_group_tree dirty_list corruption When the incompat flag EXTENT_TREE_V2 is set, we unconditionally add the block group tree to the switch_commits list before calling switch_commit_roots, as we do for the tree root and the chunk root. However, the block group tree uses normal root dirty tracking and in any transaction that does an allocation and dirties a block group, the block group root will already be linked to a list by the dirty_list field and this use of list_add_tail() is invalid and corrupts the prev/next members of block_group_root->dirty_list. This is apparent on a subsequent list_del on the prev if we enable CONFIG_DEBUG_LIST: [32.1571] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [32.1572] list_del corruption. next->prev should beffff958890202538, but was ffff9588992bd538. (next=ffff958890201538) [32.1575] WARNING: lib/list_debug.c:65 at 0x0, CPU#3: sync/607 [32.1583] CPU: 3 UID: 0 PID: 607 Comm: sync Not tainted 6.18.0 #24PREEMPT(none) [32.1585] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS1.17.0-4.fc41 04/01/2014 [32.1587] RIP: 0010:__list_del_entry_valid_or_report+0x108/0x120 [32.1593] RSP: 0018:ffffaa288287fdd0 EFLAGS: 00010202 [32.1594] RAX: 0000000000000001 RBX: ffff95889326e800 RCX:ffff958890201538 [32.1596] RDX: ffff9588992bd538 RSI: ffff958890202538 RDI:ffffffff82a41e00 [32.1597] RBP: ffff958890202538 R08: ffffffff828fc1e8 R09:00000000ffffefff [32.1599] R10: ffffffff8288c200 R11: ffffffff828e4200 R12:ffff958890201538 [32.1601] R13: ffff95889326e958 R14: ffff958895c24000 R15:ffff958890202538 [32.1603] FS: 00007f0c28eb5740(0000) GS:ffff958af2bd2000(0000)knlGS:0000000000000000 [32.1605] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [32.1607] CR2: 00007f0c28e8a3cc CR3: 0000000109942005 CR4:0000000000370ef0 [32.1609] Call Trace: [32.1610] <TASK> [32.1611] switch_commit_roots+0x82/0x1d0 [btrfs] [32.1615] btrfs_commit_transaction+0x968/0x1550 [btrfs] [32.1618] ? btrfs_attach_transaction_barrier+0x23/0x60 [btrfs] [32.1621] __iterate_supers+0xe8/0x190 [32.1622] ? __pfx_sync_fs_one_sb+0x10/0x10 [32.1623] ksys_sync+0x63/0xb0 [32.1624] __do_sys_sync+0xe/0x20 [32.1625] do_syscall_64+0x73/0x450 [32.1626] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e [32.1627] RIP: 0033:0x7f0c28d05d2b [32.1632] RSP: 002b:00007ffc9d988048 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX:00000000000000a2 [32.1634] RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007ffc9d988228 RCX:00007f0c28d05d2b [32.1636] RDX: 00007f0c28e02301 RSI: 00007ffc9d989b21 RDI:00007f0c28dba90d [32.1637] RBP: 0000000000000001 R08: 0000000000000001 R09:0000000000000000 [32.1639] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000246 R12:000055b96572cb80 [32.1641] R13: 000055b96572b19f R14: 00007f0c28dfa434 R15:000055b96572b034 [32.1643] </TASK> [32.1644] irq event stamp: 0 [32.1644] hardirqs last enabled at (0): [<0000000000000000>] 0x0 [32.1646] hardirqs last disabled at (0): [<ffffffff81298817>]copy_process+0xb37/0x2260 [32.1648] softirqs last enabled at (0): [<ffffffff81298817>]copy_process+0xb37/0x2260 [32.1650] softirqs last disabled at (0): [<0000000000000000>] 0x0 [32.1652] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- Furthermore, this list corruption eventually (when we happen to add a new block group) results in getting the switch_commits and dirty_cowonly_roots lists mixed up and attempting to call update_root on the tree root which can't be found in the tree root, resulting in a transaction abort: [87.8269] BTRFS critical (device nvme1n1): unable to find root key (1 0 0) in tree 1 [87.8272] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [87.8274] BTRFS: Transaction aborted (error -117) [87.8275] WARNING: fs/btrfs/root-tree.c:153 at 0x0, CPU#4: sync/703 [87.8285] CPU: 4 UID: 0 PID: 703 Comm: sync Not tainted 6.18.0 #25 PREEMPT(none) [87.8287] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.17.0-4.fc41 0 ---truncated---

Published: 2026-06-03 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-46251 is rated Low Risk (34.8/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.13%). 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-2026-46251

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 0.02% 0.13% +0.11%
2 2026-06-04 — 0.02% —

Full EPSS history (2 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-46251

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.4 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 2.5 5.9 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-46251

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-46251

GHSA-c5jw-wr2h-vpj4 · Severity: high — In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: fix block_group_tree...

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-46251

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2026-46251 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-2026-46251
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-46251
suse medium CVE-2026-46251 severity moderate: SUSE including 19 source package names (cluster-md-kmp-default, dlm-kmp-default, …), 125 product×package rows across 24 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS, SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-LTSS, … (24 product lines)): Known Not Affected 125. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-46251/
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-46251 medium priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1422 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, resolute, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1024, ignored 169, not-affected 89, released 84, pending 29, needed 24, needs-triage 3. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-46251

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-46251

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 6.0.19, < 6.1.165 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.128 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.75 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.18.14 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.19, < 6.19.4 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-46251

cvelogic Threat Intelligence