CVE Intelligence
High

CVE-2023-54067 — btrfs: fix race when deleting free space root from the dirty cow roots list

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: fix race when deleting free space root from the dirty cow roots list When deleting the free space tree we are deleting the free space root from the list fs_info->dirty_cowonly_roots without taking the lock that protects it, which is struct btrfs_fs_info::trans_lock. This unsynchronized list manipulation may cause chaos if there's another concurrent manipulation of this list, such as when adding a root to it with ctree.c:add_root_to_dirty_list(). This can result in all sorts of weird failures caused by a race, such as the following crash: [337571.278245] general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdead000000000108: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP PTI [337571.278933] CPU: 1 PID: 115447 Comm: btrfs Tainted: G W 6.4.0-rc6-btrfs-next-134+ #1 [337571.279153] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.14.0-0-g155821a1990b-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 [337571.279572] RIP: 0010:commit_cowonly_roots+0x11f/0x250 [btrfs] [337571.279928] Code: 85 38 06 00 (...) [337571.280363] RSP: 0018:ffff9f63446efba0 EFLAGS: 00010206 [337571.280582] RAX: ffff942d98ec2638 RBX: ffff9430b82b4c30 RCX: 0000000449e1c000 [337571.280798] RDX: dead000000000100 RSI: ffff9430021e4900 RDI: 0000000000036070 [337571.281015] RBP: ffff942d98ec2000 R08: ffff942d98ec2000 R09: 000000000000015b [337571.281254] R10: 0000000000000009 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: ffff942fe8fbf600 [337571.281476] R13: ffff942dabe23040 R14: ffff942dabe20800 R15: ffff942d92cf3b48 [337571.281723] FS: 00007f478adb7340(0000) GS:ffff94349fa40000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [337571.281950] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [337571.282184] CR2: 00007f478ab9a3d5 CR3: 000000001e02c001 CR4: 0000000000370ee0 [337571.282416] DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 [337571.282647] DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 [337571.282874] Call Trace: [337571.283101] <TASK> [337571.283327] ? __die_body+0x1b/0x60 [337571.283570] ? die_addr+0x39/0x60 [337571.283796] ? exc_general_protection+0x22e/0x430 [337571.284022] ? asm_exc_general_protection+0x22/0x30 [337571.284251] ? commit_cowonly_roots+0x11f/0x250 [btrfs] [337571.284531] btrfs_commit_transaction+0x42e/0xf90 [btrfs] [337571.284803] ? _raw_spin_unlock+0x15/0x30 [337571.285031] ? release_extent_buffer+0x103/0x130 [btrfs] [337571.285305] reset_balance_state+0x152/0x1b0 [btrfs] [337571.285578] btrfs_balance+0xa50/0x11e0 [btrfs] [337571.285864] ? __kmem_cache_alloc_node+0x14a/0x410 [337571.286086] btrfs_ioctl+0x249a/0x3320 [btrfs] [337571.286358] ? mod_objcg_state+0xd2/0x360 [337571.286577] ? refill_obj_stock+0xb0/0x160 [337571.286798] ? seq_release+0x25/0x30 [337571.287016] ? __rseq_handle_notify_resume+0x3ba/0x4b0 [337571.287235] ? percpu_counter_add_batch+0x2e/0xa0 [337571.287455] ? __x64_sys_ioctl+0x88/0xc0 [337571.287675] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x88/0xc0 [337571.287901] do_syscall_64+0x38/0x90 [337571.288126] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x72/0xdc [337571.288352] RIP: 0033:0x7f478aaffe9b So fix this by locking struct btrfs_fs_info::trans_lock before deleting the free space root from that list.

Published Dec 24, 2025 · Updated Oct 13, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP · CNA: Linux

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.
How the score was calculated
  • EPSS 0.2% (30-day exploitation probability)+1
  • Technical severity (high)+6

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation
Not confirmed
Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.
EPSS FIRST
0.16%
ahead of 5% of scored CVEs · Oct 14, 2026
Affects
Linux
Linux
CVSS base
7.8
High · 2 source(s)

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

No fix documented by the sources we poll. That does not mean none exists: check the vendor advisory.

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Linux Linux).
  2. No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
  3. Exploitation requires user interaction: tighten email/web filtering and warn affected users.
  4. Search available logs for exploit probes, errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Linux Linux ≥ a5ed91828518ab076209266c2bc510adabd078df and < 6f1c81886b0b56cb88b311e5d2f203625474d892≥ a5ed91828518ab076209266c2bc510adabd078df and < 8ce9139aea5e60a247bde5af804312f54975f443≥ a5ed91828518ab076209266c2bc510adabd078df and < babebf023e661b90b1c78b2baa384fb03a226879version 4.5 Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

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

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
7.8 CVSS 3.1 High 1.8 5.9 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 via NIST National Vulnerability Database
7.8 CVSS 3.1 High — — Linux via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H (score shown at the top: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67)

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 13, 2026 → Oct 14, 2026 · 2 reading(s) · max 0.16%

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Local/physical vector: focus on endpoint telemetry (EDR) from affected hosts.
endpoint telemetry (EDR)

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • Affected products added · linux/linux
    Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 13, 2026
  • CVSS changed · 7.8
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Deferred
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • 2025
  • CVE published
    Dec 24, 2025 · Linux

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026

References

3 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Linux
every CVE for this vendor

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-99999 ipv4: validate checksum_start before completing checksum 6h
  • CVE-2026-98432 ipv4: free inet_opt and ireq_opt after an RCU grace period 6h
  • CVE-2026-98425 wifi: mac80211: don't warn when an IBSS has no channel to scan 1d
  • CVE-2026-98424 wifi: cfg80211: undo netns switch if renaming the wiphy fails 1d
  • CVE-2026-98426 wifi: mwifiex: fix IRQ leak using wrong index in MSI-X error path 1d
  • CVE-2026-98427 net/sched: codel: bound the dropping loop per dequeue call 1d

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No fixed version, patch or mitigation documented.
  • No CISA SSVC assessment.
  • No CWE classification.
  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2023-54067 is "btrfs: fix race when deleting free space root from the dirty cow roots list", rated High. It affects Linux (Linux); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 7.8 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.16% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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