In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: reject root items...

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

btrfs: reject root items with drop_progress and zero drop_level

[BUG]
When recovering relocation at mount time, merge_reloc_root() and
btrfs_drop_snapshot() both use BUG_ON(level == 0) to guard against
an impossible state: a non-zero drop_progress combined with a zero
drop_level in a root_item, which can be triggered:

------------[ cut here ]------------
kernel BUG at fs/btrfs/relocation.c:1545!
Oops: invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] SMP KASAN NOPTI
CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 283 ... Tainted: 6.18.0+ #16 PREEMPT(voluntary)
Tainted: [O]=OOT_MODULE, [E]=UNSIGNED_MODULE
Hardware name: QEMU Ubuntu 24.04 PC v2, BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2
RIP: 0010:merge_reloc_root+0x1266/0x1650 fs/btrfs/relocation.c:1545
Code: ffff0000 00004589 d7e9acfa ffffe8a1 79bafebe 02000000
Call Trace:
merge_reloc_roots+0x295/0x890 fs/btrfs/relocation.c:1861
btrfs_recover_relocation+0xd6e/0x11d0 fs/btrfs/relocation.c:4195
btrfs_start_pre_rw_mount+0xa4d/0x1810 fs/btrfs/disk-io.c:3130
open_ctree+0x5824/0x5fe0 fs/btrfs/disk-io.c:3640
btrfs_fill_super fs/btrfs/super.c:987 [inline]
btrfs_get_tree_super fs/btrfs/super.c:1951 [inline]
btrfs_get_tree_subvol fs/btrfs/super.c:2094 [inline]
btrfs_get_tree+0x111c/0x2190 fs/btrfs/super.c:2128
vfs_get_tree+0x9a/0x370 fs/super.c:1758
fc_mount fs/namespace.c:1199 [inline]
do_new_mount_fc fs/namespace.c:3642 [inline]
do_new_mount fs/namespace.c:3718 [inline]
path_mount+0x5b8/0x1ea0 fs/namespace.c:4028
do_mount fs/namespace.c:4041 [inline]
__do_sys_mount fs/namespace.c:4229 [inline]
__se_sys_mount fs/namespace.c:4206 [inline]
__x64_sys_mount+0x282/0x320 fs/namespace.c:4206
...
RIP: 0033:0x7f969c9a8fde
Code: 0f1f4000 48c7c2b0 fffffff7 d8648902 b8ffffff ffc3660f
---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---

The bug is reproducible on 7.0.0-rc2-next-20260310 with our dynamic
metadata fuzzing tool that corrupts btrfs metadata at runtime.

[CAUSE]
A non-zero drop_progress.objectid means an interrupted
btrfs_drop_snapshot() left a resume point on disk, and in that case
drop_level must be greater than 0 because the checkpoint is only
saved at internal node levels.

Although this invariant is enforced when the kernel writes the root
item, it is not validated when the root item is read back from disk.
That allows on-disk corruption to provide an invalid state with
drop_progress.objectid != 0 and drop_level == 0.

When relocation recovery later processes such a root item,
merge_reloc_root() reads drop_level and hits BUG_ON(level == 0). The
same invalid metadata can also trigger the corresponding BUG_ON() in
btrfs_drop_snapshot().

[FIX]
Fix this by validating the root_item invariant in tree-checker when
reading root items from disk: if drop_progress.objectid is non-zero,
drop_level must also be non-zero. Reject such malformed metadata with
-EUCLEAN before it reaches merge_reloc_root() or btrfs_drop_snapshot()
and triggers the BUG_ON.

After the fix, the same corruption is correctly rejected by tree-checker
and the BUG_ON is no longer triggered.

Basic information

Type
unreviewed
Severity
medium
Advisory on GitHub
Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory
Source code
Not specified
Published (advisory)
2026-05-01 15:30:37 UTC
Updated
2026-05-08 15:32:17 UTC
NVD published
2026-05-01

EPSS Score

Score Percentile
0.01% 2.32%

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
5.5 3.1
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.

Identifiers

CWEs

CWE id Name
CWE-617 Reachable Assertion

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence