CVE-2026-97902
Received
Received - Intake
Incorrect filesystem thaw return value in Linux kernel
Vulnerability report for CVE-2026-97902, including description, CVSS score, EPSS score, affected products, exploitability, helpful resources, and attack-flow context.
Publication date: 2026-09-25
Last updated on: 2026-09-25
Assigner: kernel.org
Description
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
fs: don't return -EINVAL for successful nested thaw
Commit 7366f8b6fc6a ("fs: handle freezing from multiple devices")
replaced the freeze_holders bitmask with per-holder counters to allow
nested freezes. In the bitmask version, a thaw that released a shared
hold while another holder remained returned 0. Since the rework,
thaw_super_locked() drops the freeze reference via freeze_dec() but
then returns -EINVAL when other freezers remain, misinforming the
caller: the thaw did succeed, the superblock just stays frozen for the
remaining holders.
This breaks bdev-initiated freezing. When a filesystem is frozen with
FIFREEZE and additionally frozen via bdev_freeze() -- which nests by
design, see fs_bdev_freeze() -- the subsequent bdev_thaw() receives
-EINVAL from the holder op although its freeze reference was dropped,
and therefore keeps bd_fsfreeze_count elevated. Then device-mapper's
unlock_fs() ignores bdev_thaw()'s return value, so nothing rebalances
the count. After the user's FITHAW and umount, the block device can
never be mounted again:
dm-1: Can't mount, blockdev is frozen
There is no way for userspace to drop the leaked count; only
destroying the block device (or a reboot) recovers the device.
Reproducer (any kernel since v6.8):
dmsetup create dut --table "0 $(blockdev --getsz "$DEV") linear $DEV 0"
mkfs.ext4 /dev/mapper/dut
mount /dev/mapper/dut /mnt
fsfreeze --freeze /mnt # freeze_ucount == 1
dmsetup suspend dut # bd_fsfreeze_count == 1, ucount == 2
dmsetup resume dut # ucount 2 -> 1, but thaw_super()
# returns -EINVAL, so bdev_thaw()
# keeps bd_fsfreeze_count at 1
fsfreeze --unfreeze /mnt # filesystem thaws fine
umount /mnt
mount /dev/mapper/dut /mnt # EBUSY, forever
The same happens with fsfreeze held across an LVM snapshot of the
origin volume.
fs_bdev_thaw()'s documentation already describes the intended
semantics: "If this function returns zero it doesn't mean that the
filesystem is unfrozen as it may have been frozen multiple times".
Restore them by returning 0 when a nested thaw drops its hold while
other freezers remain. Thawing without holding a freeze still fails
with -EINVAL as may_unfreeze() rejects that case before the reference
count is touched.
CVSS Scores
EPSS Scores
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Meta Information
Affected Vendors & Products
| Vendor | Product | Version / Range |
|---|---|---|
| linux_kernel | linux_kernel | * |
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
CWE
KEV
| CWE ID | Description |
|---|---|
| CWE-UNKNOWN |
