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In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been...

High severity Unreviewed Published Sep 11, 2025 to the GitHub Advisory Database • Updated May 12, 2026

Package

No package listedSuggest a package

Affected versions

Unknown

Patched versions

Unknown

Description

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

btrfs: do not allow relocation of partially dropped subvolumes

[BUG]
There is an internal report that balance triggered transaction abort,
with the following call trace:

item 85 key (594509824 169 0) itemoff 12599 itemsize 33
extent refs 1 gen 197740 flags 2
ref#0: tree block backref root 7
item 86 key (594558976 169 0) itemoff 12566 itemsize 33
extent refs 1 gen 197522 flags 2
ref#0: tree block backref root 7
...
BTRFS error (device loop0): extent item not found for insert, bytenr 594526208 num_bytes 16384 parent 449921024 root_objectid 934 owner 1 offset 0
BTRFS error (device loop0): failed to run delayed ref for logical 594526208 num_bytes 16384 type 182 action 1 ref_mod 1: -117
------------[ cut here ]------------
BTRFS: Transaction aborted (error -117)
WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 6963 at ../fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c:2168 btrfs_run_delayed_refs+0xfa/0x110 [btrfs]

And btrfs check doesn't report anything wrong related to the extent
tree.

[CAUSE]
The cause is a little complex, firstly the extent tree indeed doesn't
have the backref for 594526208.

The extent tree only have the following two backrefs around that bytenr
on-disk:

    item 65 key (594509824 METADATA_ITEM 0) itemoff 13880 itemsize 33
            refs 1 gen 197740 flags TREE_BLOCK
            tree block skinny level 0
            (176 0x7) tree block backref root CSUM_TREE
    item 66 key (594558976 METADATA_ITEM 0) itemoff 13847 itemsize 33
            refs 1 gen 197522 flags TREE_BLOCK
            tree block skinny level 0
            (176 0x7) tree block backref root CSUM_TREE

But the such missing backref item is not an corruption on disk, as the
offending delayed ref belongs to subvolume 934, and that subvolume is
being dropped:

    item 0 key (934 ROOT_ITEM 198229) itemoff 15844 itemsize 439
            generation 198229 root_dirid 256 bytenr 10741039104 byte_limit 0 bytes_used 345571328
            last_snapshot 198229 flags 0x1000000000001(RDONLY) refs 0
            drop_progress key (206324 EXTENT_DATA 2711650304) drop_level 2
            level 2 generation_v2 198229

And that offending tree block 594526208 is inside the dropped range of
that subvolume. That explains why there is no backref item for that
bytenr and why btrfs check is not reporting anything wrong.

But this also shows another problem, as btrfs will do all the orphan
subvolume cleanup at a read-write mount.

So half-dropped subvolume should not exist after an RW mount, and
balance itself is also exclusive to subvolume cleanup, meaning we
shouldn't hit a subvolume half-dropped during relocation.

The root cause is, there is no orphan item for this subvolume.
In fact there are 5 subvolumes from around 2021 that have the same
problem.

It looks like the original report has some older kernels running, and
caused those zombie subvolumes.

Thankfully upstream commit 8d488a8c7ba2 ("btrfs: fix subvolume/snapshot
deletion not triggered on mount") has long fixed the bug.

[ENHANCEMENT]
For repairing such old fs, btrfs-progs will be enhanced.

Considering how delayed the problem will show up (at run delayed ref
time) and at that time we have to abort transaction already, it is too
late.

Instead here we reject any half-dropped subvolume for reloc tree at the
earliest time, preventing confusion and extra time wasted on debugging
similar bugs.

References

Published by the National Vulnerability Database Sep 11, 2025
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Sep 11, 2025
Last updated May 12, 2026

Severity

High

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS score

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

This score estimates the probability of this vulnerability being exploited within the next 30 days. Data provided by FIRST.
(9th percentile)

Weaknesses

No CWEs

CVE ID

CVE-2025-39738

GHSA ID

GHSA-8x83-vv5w-vmh3

Source code

No known source code

Dependabot alerts are not supported on this advisory because it does not have a package from a supported ecosystem with an affected and fixed version.

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