CVE Intelligence
Medium Denial of service

CVE-2025-21942 — btrfs: zoned: fix extent range end unlock in cow_file_range()

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: zoned: fix extent range end unlock in cow_file_range() Running generic/751 on the for-next branch often results in a hang like below. They are both stack by locking an extent. This suggests someone forget to unlock an extent. INFO: task kworker/u128:1:12 blocked for more than 323 seconds. Not tainted 6.13.0-BTRFS-ZNS+ #503 "echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message. task:kworker/u128:1 state:D stack:0 pid:12 tgid:12 ppid:2 flags:0x00004000 Workqueue: btrfs-fixup btrfs_work_helper [btrfs] Call Trace: <TASK> __schedule+0x534/0xdd0 schedule+0x39/0x140 __lock_extent+0x31b/0x380 [btrfs] ? __pfx_autoremove_wake_function+0x10/0x10 btrfs_writepage_fixup_worker+0xf1/0x3a0 [btrfs] btrfs_work_helper+0xff/0x480 [btrfs] ? lock_release+0x178/0x2c0 process_one_work+0x1ee/0x570 ? srso_return_thunk+0x5/0x5f worker_thread+0x1d1/0x3b0 ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 kthread+0x10b/0x230 ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 ret_from_fork+0x30/0x50 ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 </TASK> INFO: task kworker/u134:0:184 blocked for more than 323 seconds. Not tainted 6.13.0-BTRFS-ZNS+ #503 "echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message. task:kworker/u134:0 state:D stack:0 pid:184 tgid:184 ppid:2 flags:0x00004000 Workqueue: writeback wb_workfn (flush-btrfs-4) Call Trace: <TASK> __schedule+0x534/0xdd0 schedule+0x39/0x140 __lock_extent+0x31b/0x380 [btrfs] ? __pfx_autoremove_wake_function+0x10/0x10 find_lock_delalloc_range+0xdb/0x260 [btrfs] writepage_delalloc+0x12f/0x500 [btrfs] ? srso_return_thunk+0x5/0x5f extent_write_cache_pages+0x232/0x840 [btrfs] btrfs_writepages+0x72/0x130 [btrfs] do_writepages+0xe7/0x260 ? srso_return_thunk+0x5/0x5f ? lock_acquire+0xd2/0x300 ? srso_return_thunk+0x5/0x5f ? find_held_lock+0x2b/0x80 ? wbc_attach_and_unlock_inode.part.0+0x102/0x250 ? wbc_attach_and_unlock_inode.part.0+0x102/0x250 __writeback_single_inode+0x5c/0x4b0 writeback_sb_inodes+0x22d/0x550 __writeback_inodes_wb+0x4c/0xe0 wb_writeback+0x2f6/0x3f0 wb_workfn+0x32a/0x510 process_one_work+0x1ee/0x570 ? srso_return_thunk+0x5/0x5f worker_thread+0x1d1/0x3b0 ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 kthread+0x10b/0x230 ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 ret_from_fork+0x30/0x50 ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 </TASK> This happens because we have another success path for the zoned mode. When there is no active zone available, btrfs_reserve_extent() returns -EAGAIN. In this case, we have two reactions. (1) If the given range is never allocated, we can only wait for someone to finish a zone, so wait on BTRFS_FS_NEED_ZONE_FINISH bit and retry afterward. (2) Or, if some allocations are already done, we must bail out and let the caller to send IOs for the allocation. This is because these IOs may be necessary to finish a zone. The commit 06f364284794 ("btrfs: do proper folio cleanup when cow_file_range() failed") moved the unlock code from the inside of the loop to the outside. So, previously, the allocated extents are unlocked just after the allocation and so before returning from the function. However, they are no longer unlocked on the case (2) above. That caused the hang issue. Fix the issue by modifying the 'end' to the end of the allocated range. Then, we can exit the loop and the same unlock code can properly handle the case.

Published Apr 1, 2025 · Updated Oct 21, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP, GitHub Security Advisories · 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 (medium)+3

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
0.2%
ahead of 9% of scored CVEs · Oct 23, 2026
Affects
Linux
Linux and 1 more
CVSS base
5.5
Medium · 2 source(s)

Remediation

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

  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)

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, Linux Linux Kernel).
  2. Apply the fixed version or the patch documented under Remediation.
  3. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (denial of service), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Linux Linux ≥ 10b3772292bf1be45604ba83fd9650eb94382e78 and < 5f4863cfb29a7b4fe7625ce148d0b9000b75b802≥ 692cf71173bb41395c855acbbbe197d3aedfa5d4 and < 3fcff2f55389306482ab049b4321bda49495e546≥ 06f364284794f149d2abc167c11d556cf20c954b and < 5a4041f2c47247575a6c2e53ce14f7b0ac946c33version 4ace6fb49c8be23b005828763d8b0d0bb0f3b0c5≥ 6.6.160 and < 6.7≥ 6.13.2 and < 6.13.7 Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Linux Linux Kernel ≥ 6.13.2 and < 6.13.7version 6.14-rc1version 6.14-rc2version 6.14-rc3version 6.14-rc4version 6.14-rc5 Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database

Attack characteristics

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

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
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
5.5 CVSS 3.1 Medium 1.8 3.6 nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database
5.5 CVSS 3.1 Medium — — GitHub, Inc. via GitHub Security Advisories
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H (score shown at the top: nvd@nist.gov)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-835 · Infinite Loop

Other CVEs with this weakness →

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 20, 2026 → Oct 23, 2026 · 4 reading(s) · max 0.20%

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.
  • Track CPU/memory spikes and availability drops correlated with request patterns.
endpoint telemetry (EDR)resource metrics

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • Affected products added · linux/linux
    Oct 21, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 21, 2026
  • Fix documented
    Oct 21, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Affected products added · linux/linux kernel
    Oct 21, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVSS changed · 5.5
    Oct 21, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Analyzed
    Oct 21, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 21, 2026 · Alertas do Telegram
  • 2025
  • CVE published
    Apr 1, 2025 · Linux

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 2× References added · Oct 21, 2026 – Oct 21, 2026
  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 21, 2026 – Oct 21, 2026

References

5 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Linux
every CVE for this vendor
Denial of service
same class
CWE-835
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-99087 dm-integrity: fix NULL pointer dereference when the 'R' flag is used 1d
  • CVE-2026-99086 dm-integrity: validate the superblock on resume 1d
  • CVE-2026-99085 sched_ext: Fix CPU hotplug hang when a dying CPU's tasks sit in the BPF scheduler 1d
  • CVE-2026-99084 readdir: take no inode lock on an immutable directory 1d
  • CVE-2026-99080 fs: Free any excess xarray nodes in clear_inode() 1d
  • CVE-2026-99079 net/mlx5e: Prevent stale XSK buffer release on refill retry 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 CISA SSVC assessment.
  • 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-2025-21942 is "btrfs: zoned: fix extent range end unlock in cow_file_range()", rated Medium. It affects Linux (Linux); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 5.5 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.20% 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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