CVE-2026-45934
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Heap Overflow in Btrfs Filesystem

Publication date: 2026-05-27

Last updated on: 2026-05-27

Assigner: kernel.org

Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: fix EEXIST abort due to non-consecutive gaps in chunk allocation I have been observing a number of systems aborting at insert_dev_extents() in btrfs_create_pending_block_groups(). The following is a sample stack trace of such an abort coming from forced chunk allocation (typically behind CONFIG_BTRFS_EXPERIMENTAL) but this can theoretically happen to any DUP chunk allocation. [81.801] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [81.801] BTRFS: Transaction aborted (error -17) [81.801] WARNING: fs/btrfs/block-group.c:2876 at btrfs_create_pending_block_groups+0x721/0x770 [btrfs], CPU#1: bash/319 [81.802] Modules linked in: virtio_net btrfs xor zstd_compress raid6_pq null_blk [81.803] CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 319 Comm: bash Kdump: loaded Not tainted 6.19.0-rc6+ #319 NONE [81.803] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS Arch Linux 1.17.0-2-2 04/01/2014 [81.804] RIP: 0010:btrfs_create_pending_block_groups+0x723/0x770 [btrfs] [81.806] RSP: 0018:ffffa36241a6bce8 EFLAGS: 00010282 [81.806] RAX: 000000000000000d RBX: ffff8e699921e400 RCX: 0000000000000000 [81.807] RDX: 0000000002040001 RSI: 00000000ffffffef RDI: ffffffffc0608bf0 [81.807] RBP: 00000000ffffffef R08: ffff8e69830f6000 R09: 0000000000000007 [81.808] R10: ffff8e699921e5e8 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffff8e6999228000 [81.808] R13: ffff8e6984d82000 R14: ffff8e69966a69c0 R15: ffff8e69aa47b000 [81.809] FS: 00007fec6bdd9740(0000) GS:ffff8e6b1b379000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [81.809] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [81.810] CR2: 00005604833670f0 CR3: 0000000116679000 CR4: 00000000000006f0 [81.810] Call Trace: [81.810] <TASK> [81.810] __btrfs_end_transaction+0x3e/0x2b0 [btrfs] [81.811] btrfs_force_chunk_alloc_store+0xcd/0x140 [btrfs] [81.811] kernfs_fop_write_iter+0x15f/0x240 [81.812] vfs_write+0x264/0x500 [81.812] ksys_write+0x6c/0xe0 [81.812] do_syscall_64+0x66/0x770 [81.812] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e [81.813] RIP: 0033:0x7fec6be66197 [81.814] RSP: 002b:00007fffb159dd30 EFLAGS: 00000202 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000001 [81.815] RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007fec6bdd9740 RCX: 00007fec6be66197 [81.815] RDX: 0000000000000002 RSI: 0000560483374f80 RDI: 0000000000000001 [81.816] RBP: 0000560483374f80 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 [81.816] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000202 R12: 0000000000000002 [81.817] R13: 00007fec6bfb85c0 R14: 00007fec6bfb5ee0 R15: 00005604833729c0 [81.817] </TASK> [81.817] irq event stamp: 20039 [81.818] hardirqs last enabled at (20047): [<ffffffff99a68302>] __up_console_sem+0x52/0x60 [81.818] hardirqs last disabled at (20056): [<ffffffff99a682e7>] __up_console_sem+0x37/0x60 [81.819] softirqs last enabled at (19470): [<ffffffff999d2b46>] __irq_exit_rcu+0x96/0xc0 [81.819] softirqs last disabled at (19463): [<ffffffff999d2b46>] __irq_exit_rcu+0x96/0xc0 [81.820] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- [81.820] BTRFS: error (device dm-7 state A) in btrfs_create_pending_block_groups:2876: errno=-17 Object already exists Inspecting these aborts with drgn, I observed a pattern of overlapping chunk_maps. Note how stripe 1 of the first chunk overlaps in physical address with stripe 0 of the second chunk. Physical Start Physical End Length Logical Type Stripe ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0x0000000102500000 0x0000000142500000 1.0G 0x0000000641d00000 META|DUP 0/2 0x0000000142500000 0x0000000182500000 1.0G 0x0000000641d00000 META|DUP 1/2 0x0000000142500000 0x0000000182500000 1.0G 0x0000000601d00000 META|DUP 0/2 0x0000000182500000 0x00000001c2500000 1.0G 0x0000000601d00000 META|DUP 1/2 Now how could this possibly happen? All chunk allocation is ---truncated---
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Meta Information
Published
2026-05-27
Last Modified
2026-05-27
Generated
2026-06-17
AI Q&A
2026-05-27
EPSS Evaluated
2026-06-15
NVD
CVE-2026-45934
EUVD
EUVD-2026-32218
Affected Vendors & Products
Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
linux kernel 6.19.0-rc6+
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-UNKNOWN
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Executive Summary

This vulnerability is in the Linux kernel's Btrfs filesystem, specifically related to chunk allocation. It causes an abort with an EEXIST error due to non-consecutive gaps in chunk allocation. The issue occurs during forced chunk allocation, which can happen with the CONFIG_BTRFS_EXPERIMENTAL option enabled, but theoretically can affect any DUP chunk allocation. The problem leads to overlapping chunk maps, where physical address ranges of different chunks overlap, causing the filesystem transaction to abort.

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can cause the Btrfs filesystem to abort transactions unexpectedly, leading to system instability or data operation failures. Specifically, it results in errors during chunk allocation, which may interrupt filesystem operations and potentially cause data access or write failures.

Detection Guidance

This vulnerability manifests as aborts in the Linux kernel related to btrfs chunk allocation, typically visible in system logs with messages such as "BTRFS: Transaction aborted (error -17)" and warnings referencing btrfs_create_pending_block_groups.

To detect this issue, you should monitor your system logs (e.g., using dmesg or journalctl) for error messages indicating BTRFS transaction aborts and warnings about btrfs_create_pending_block_groups.

  • Use the command: dmesg | grep -i btrfs
  • Or check the system journal with: journalctl -k | grep -i btrfs
  • Look specifically for error messages containing "Transaction aborted (error -17)" or warnings referencing "btrfs_create_pending_block_groups".
Mitigation Strategies

The CVE description does not provide explicit mitigation steps.

However, since the issue relates to btrfs chunk allocation aborts, immediate mitigation would typically involve updating the Linux kernel to a version where this vulnerability is fixed.

Additionally, if you are using the CONFIG_BTRFS_EXPERIMENTAL feature, consider disabling it temporarily to avoid triggering the forced chunk allocation that can cause this abort.

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