Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
btrfs: balance: fix potential bg lookup failure in btrfs_may_alloc_data_chunk()
[BUG]
Running btrfs balance can trigger a null-ptr-deref before relocating a
data chunk when metadata corruption leaves a chunk in the chunk tree
without a corresponding block group in the in-memory cache:
KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000088-0x000000000000008f]
RIP: 0010:btrfs_may_alloc_data_chunk+0x40/0x1c0 fs/btrfs/volumes.c:3601
Call Trace:
__btrfs_balance fs/btrfs/volumes.c:4217 [inline]
btrfs_balance+0x2516/0x42b0 fs/btrfs/volumes.c:4604
btrfs_ioctl_balance fs/btrfs/ioctl.c:3577 [inline]
btrfs_ioctl+0x25cf/0x5b90 fs/btrfs/ioctl.c:5313
...
[CAUSE]
__btrfs_balance() iterates the on-disk chunk tree and passes the chunk
logical bytenr to btrfs_may_alloc_data_chunk() before relocating a data
chunk. That helper then queries the in-memory block group cache:
cache = btrfs_lookup_block_group(fs_info, chunk_offset);
chunk_type = cache->flags; /* cache may be NULL */
A corrupt image can contain a chunk item whose matching block group
item is missing, so no block group is ever inserted into the cache. In
that case btrfs_lookup_block_group() returns NULL.
The code only guards this with ASSERT(cache), which becomes a no-op when
CONFIG_BTRFS_ASSERT is disabled. The subsequent dereference of
cache->flags therefore crashes the kernel.
[FIX]
Add a NULL check after btrfs_lookup_block_group() in
btrfs_may_alloc_data_chunk() and print and error message for clarity.
btrfs: balance: fix potential bg lookup failure in btrfs_may_alloc_data_chunk()
[BUG]
Running btrfs balance can trigger a null-ptr-deref before relocating a
data chunk when metadata corruption leaves a chunk in the chunk tree
without a corresponding block group in the in-memory cache:
KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000088-0x000000000000008f]
RIP: 0010:btrfs_may_alloc_data_chunk+0x40/0x1c0 fs/btrfs/volumes.c:3601
Call Trace:
__btrfs_balance fs/btrfs/volumes.c:4217 [inline]
btrfs_balance+0x2516/0x42b0 fs/btrfs/volumes.c:4604
btrfs_ioctl_balance fs/btrfs/ioctl.c:3577 [inline]
btrfs_ioctl+0x25cf/0x5b90 fs/btrfs/ioctl.c:5313
...
[CAUSE]
__btrfs_balance() iterates the on-disk chunk tree and passes the chunk
logical bytenr to btrfs_may_alloc_data_chunk() before relocating a data
chunk. That helper then queries the in-memory block group cache:
cache = btrfs_lookup_block_group(fs_info, chunk_offset);
chunk_type = cache->flags; /* cache may be NULL */
A corrupt image can contain a chunk item whose matching block group
item is missing, so no block group is ever inserted into the cache. In
that case btrfs_lookup_block_group() returns NULL.
The code only guards this with ASSERT(cache), which becomes a no-op when
CONFIG_BTRFS_ASSERT is disabled. The subsequent dereference of
cache->flags therefore crashes the kernel.
[FIX]
Add a NULL check after btrfs_lookup_block_group() in
btrfs_may_alloc_data_chunk() and print and error message for clarity.
Published:
2026-09-24
Score:
n/a
EPSS:
n/a
KEV:
No
Impact:
n/a
Action:
n/a
Analysis
Analysis and contextual insights are available on OpenCVE Cloud.
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | unaffected |
|
||||||||||||||||||
| Linux | Linux | affected |
|
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No data.
No data available yet.
Remediation
No vendor fix or workaround currently provided.
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Tracking
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Advisories
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References
History
Thu, 24 Sep 2026 16:30:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: balance: fix potential bg lookup failure in btrfs_may_alloc_data_chunk() [BUG] Running btrfs balance can trigger a null-ptr-deref before relocating a data chunk when metadata corruption leaves a chunk in the chunk tree without a corresponding block group in the in-memory cache: KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000088-0x000000000000008f] RIP: 0010:btrfs_may_alloc_data_chunk+0x40/0x1c0 fs/btrfs/volumes.c:3601 Call Trace: __btrfs_balance fs/btrfs/volumes.c:4217 [inline] btrfs_balance+0x2516/0x42b0 fs/btrfs/volumes.c:4604 btrfs_ioctl_balance fs/btrfs/ioctl.c:3577 [inline] btrfs_ioctl+0x25cf/0x5b90 fs/btrfs/ioctl.c:5313 ... [CAUSE] __btrfs_balance() iterates the on-disk chunk tree and passes the chunk logical bytenr to btrfs_may_alloc_data_chunk() before relocating a data chunk. That helper then queries the in-memory block group cache: cache = btrfs_lookup_block_group(fs_info, chunk_offset); chunk_type = cache->flags; /* cache may be NULL */ A corrupt image can contain a chunk item whose matching block group item is missing, so no block group is ever inserted into the cache. In that case btrfs_lookup_block_group() returns NULL. The code only guards this with ASSERT(cache), which becomes a no-op when CONFIG_BTRFS_ASSERT is disabled. The subsequent dereference of cache->flags therefore crashes the kernel. [FIX] Add a NULL check after btrfs_lookup_block_group() in btrfs_may_alloc_data_chunk() and print and error message for clarity. | |
| Title | btrfs: balance: fix potential bg lookup failure in btrfs_may_alloc_data_chunk() | |
| First Time appeared |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| CPEs | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | |
| Vendors & Products |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| References |
|
MITRE
Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: Linux
Published:
Updated: 2026-09-24T16:03:23.731Z
Reserved: 2026-09-24T14:53:16.867Z
Link: CVE-2026-97416
Vulnrichment
No data.
NVD
Status : Received
Published: 2026-09-24T17:17:19.340
Modified: 2026-09-24T17:17:19.340
Link: CVE-2026-97416
Redhat
No data.
OpenCVE Enrichment
No data.
Weaknesses
No weakness.