CVE-2025-68778

Mount failure via conflicting directory inode logging

Published Jan 13, 2026 · Updated Jan 13, 2026

Availability flaw in Linux kernel Btrfs allows local users to cause a mount failure after transaction-log replay following power loss. The tree-log code records the new INODE_REF for a directory moved in the current transaction without removing the old parent reference, creating two hard links during replay. Triggering it requires crafted rename and fsync operations on Btrfs followed by power loss; the tree checker then rejects the corrupted subvolume and prevents mounting.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.20%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Availability flaw in Linux kernel Btrfs allows local users to cause a mount failure after transaction-log replay following power loss. The tree-log code records the new INODE_REF for a directory moved in the current transaction without removing the old parent reference, creating two hard links during replay. Triggering it requires crafted rename and fsync operations on Btrfs followed by power loss; the tree checker then rejects the corrupted subvolume and prevents mounting.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-68778
Published
Jan 13, 2026
Updated
Jan 13, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux Kernel
Classifications
Unavailable
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jan 13, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jan 13, 2026Record 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <266273eaf4d99475f1ae57f687b3e42bc71ec6f0
  2. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <7359e1d39c78816ecbdb0cb4e93975794ce53973
  3. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <a35788ddf8df65837897ecbb0ddb2896b863159e
  4. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <d478f50727c3ee46d0359f0d2ae114f70191816e
  5. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <d64f3834dffef80f0a9185a037617a54ed7f4bd2

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linux Kernelversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <266273eaf4d99475f1ae57f687b3e42bc71ec6f0; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <7359e1d39c78816ecbdb0cb4e93975794ce53973; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <a35788ddf8df65837897ecbb0ddb2896b863159e; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <d478f50727c3ee46d0359f0d2ae114f70191816e; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <d64f3834dffef80f0a9185a037617a54ed7f4bd2

Published CVSS scores

5.5Amazon LinuxCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

No sourced classifications are available.

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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