CVE-2026-98080 PUBLISHED

btrfs: do not force reloc root creation during qgroup_account_snapshot()

Assigner: Linux
Reserved: 25.09.2026 Published: 25.09.2026 Updated: 25.09.2026

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

btrfs: do not force reloc root creation during qgroup_account_snapshot()

[BUG] When running btrfs/252 with quota enabled through MKFS_OPTIONS="-O quota", it has a high chance to trigger the following kernel warning and flips the fs RO:

BTRFS info (device dm-2): relocating block group 30408704 flags metadata|dup ------------[ cut here ]------------ WARNING: fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c:879 at lookup_inline_extent_backref+0x74b/0x960 [btrfs], CPU#4: btrfs/2173 CPU: 4 UID: 0 PID: 2173 Comm: btrfs Not tainted 7.2.0-rc6-custom+ #457 PREEMPT(full) 3adc6528fb66f7a55fe1095385818e742f200aab Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS unknown 02/02/2022 RIP: 0010:lookup_inline_extent_backref+0x74b/0x960 [btrfs] Call Trace: <TASK> insert_inline_extent_backref+0x7c/0x160 [btrfs 32f09462c54d9c922fca74a3e4866f4aa7737b72] __btrfs_inc_extent_ref+0xa9/0x270 [btrfs 32f09462c54d9c922fca74a3e4866f4aa7737b72] __btrfs_run_delayed_refs+0x4af/0x11c0 [btrfs 32f09462c54d9c922fca74a3e4866f4aa7737b72] btrfs_run_delayed_refs+0x9d/0xf0 [btrfs 32f09462c54d9c922fca74a3e4866f4aa7737b72] create_pending_snapshot+0x39d/0xf00 [btrfs 32f09462c54d9c922fca74a3e4866f4aa7737b72] create_pending_snapshots+0x9b/0xc0 [btrfs 32f09462c54d9c922fca74a3e4866f4aa7737b72] btrfs_commit_transaction+0x280/0xeb0 [btrfs 32f09462c54d9c922fca74a3e4866f4aa7737b72] prepare_to_relocate+0x147/0x200 [btrfs 32f09462c54d9c922fca74a3e4866f4aa7737b72] relocate_block_group+0x6b/0x5e0 [btrfs 32f09462c54d9c922fca74a3e4866f4aa7737b72] btrfs_relocate_block_group+0x92c/0x2380 [btrfs 32f09462c54d9c922fca74a3e4866f4aa7737b72] btrfs_relocate_chunk+0x3f/0x1a0 [btrfs 32f09462c54d9c922fca74a3e4866f4aa7737b72] btrfs_balance+0xa2c/0x19c0 [btrfs 32f09462c54d9c922fca74a3e4866f4aa7737b72] btrfs_ioctl+0x2839/0x2d30 [btrfs 32f09462c54d9c922fca74a3e4866f4aa7737b72] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x416/0x9a0 do_syscall_64+0xe1/0x790 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53 </TASK> ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- BTRFS info (device dm-2): leaf 4593991680 gen 233 total ptrs 175 free space 5953 owner 2 BTRFS info (device dm-2): refs 3 lock_owner 2173 current 2173 item 0 key (166772736 METADATA_ITEM 1) itemoff 16250 itemsize 33 extent refs 1 gen 222 flags 2 ref#0: tree block backref root 266 [ Skip the tree dump ] item 174 key (263225344 METADATA_ITEM 0) itemoff 10328 itemsize 33 extent refs 1 gen 162 flags 258 ref#0: tree block backref root 267 BTRFS error (device dm-2): extent item not found for insert, bytenr 179847168 num_bytes 16384 parent 4594335744 root_objectid 273 owner 0 offset 0 BTRFS error (device dm-2): failed to run delayed ref for logical 179847168 num_bytes 16384 type 182 action 1 ref_mod 1: -117

[CAUSE] The above error is showing that there is a tree reference to a metadata extent that is no longer there.

With "ref_verify" mount option (requires CONFIG_BTRFS_DEBUG), there is some extra debug output:

BTRFS error (device dm-2): dumping block entry [180961280 16384], num_refs 0, metadata 1, from disk 0 BTRFS error (device dm-2): root entry 256, num_refs 18446744073709551615 BTRFS error (device dm-2): root entry 273, num_refs 18446744073709551615 BTRFS error (device dm-2): Ref action 3, root 273, ref_root 273, parent 0, owner 0, offset 0, num_refs 1 btrfs_force_cow_block+0x129/0x7d0 [btrfs] btrfs_cow_block+0x10a/0x250 [btrfs] btrfs_search_slot+0x5eb/0xf40 [btrfs] btrfs_insert_empty_items+0x3a/0x70 [btrfs] insert_with_overflow+0x53/0x130 [btrfs] btrfs_insert_dir_item+0x125/0x290 [btrfs] btrfs_add_link+0xaa/0x410 [btrfs] btrfs_rename+0x5ea/0xcd0 [btrfs] btrfs_rename2+0x28/0x60 [btrfs] vfs_rename+0x5b2/0xe10 filename_renameat2+0x244/0x430 __x64_sys_rename+0x48/0x70 do_syscall_64+0xe1/0x790 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53

---truncated---

Product Status

Vendor Linux
Product Linux
Versions Default: unaffected
  • affected from 4d31778aa2fa342f5f92ca4025b293a1729161d1 to c4c78768d1a8ceb713693cc5524acbe984c31f3c (excl.)
  • affected from 4d31778aa2fa342f5f92ca4025b293a1729161d1 to 203cbfb4fba590bd9b08bd36fa6d05b5d28923bf (excl.)
  • affected from 4d31778aa2fa342f5f92ca4025b293a1729161d1 to b5d5ab5a715001dd937c920ef8c5688fd4999ba1 (excl.)
  • affected from 4d31778aa2fa342f5f92ca4025b293a1729161d1 to cacf35832292997018837e484283f95a9301ebf5 (excl.)
  • Version 204bfcda824428b3a298eae8e87875bbd435a3c1 is affected
  • Version 1f586802bb18892d2a6eb7d31d7fed78946d21a1 is affected
  • affected from 4.14.45 to 4.15 (excl.)
  • affected from 4.16.13 to 4.17 (excl.)
Vendor Linux
Product Linux
Versions Default: affected
  • Version 4.17 is affected
  • unaffected from 0 to 4.17 (excl.)
  • unaffected from 6.12.111 to 6.12.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 6.18.53 to 6.18.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 7.2.7 to 7.2.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 7.3-rc2 to * (incl.)

References