Kernel crash via invalid free-space-tree assertion
Published Oct 30, 2025 · Updated Oct 30, 2025
Assertion failure in affected Linux Btrfs kernels since 4.5 allows local users to crash the kernel while rebuilding a free-space tree. populate_free_space_tree() wrongly asserts that an extent-tree search found a block-group item even when a new empty group has no item yet. Reachability requires local privileges and a Btrfs remount that rebuilds the tree; the failed assertion raises a kernel BUG and interrupts the host.
Summary
What happened
Assertion failure in affected Linux Btrfs kernels since 4.5 allows local users to crash the kernel while rebuilding a free-space tree. populate_free_space_tree() wrongly asserts that an extent-tree search found a block-group item even when a new empty group has no item yet. Reachability requires local privileges and a Btrfs remount that rebuilds the tree; the failed assertion raises a kernel BUG and interrupts the host.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-40100
- Published
- Oct 30, 2025
- Updated
- Oct 30, 2025
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Oct 30, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Oct 30, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=4.5
- Affected versionversion=a5ed91828518ab076209266c2bc510adabd078df <289498da343b05c886f19b4269429606f86dd17b
- Affected versionversion=a5ed91828518ab076209266c2bc510adabd078df <3fdcfd91b93f930d87843156c7c8cc5fbcf9b144
- Affected versionversion=a5ed91828518ab076209266c2bc510adabd078df <4f4b9ca73f84130d9fbb0fc02306ce94ce8bdbe6
- Affected versionversion=a5ed91828518ab076209266c2bc510adabd078df <a5a51bf4e9b7354ce7cd697e610d72c1b33fd949
- Affected versionversion=a5ed91828518ab076209266c2bc510adabd078df <eb145463f22d7d32d426b29fe9810de9e792b6ba
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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