Filesystem hang via defragmentation reservation deadlock
Published Sep 17, 2026 · Updated Sep 17, 2026
Deadlock in Btrfs defragmentation in Linux Foundation Linux Kernel allows local users to hang filesystem operations via file activity. In fs/btrfs/defrag.c, defrag_one_range reserves delayed-allocation space while holding dirty folios and extent locks, blocking reclaim that needs those locks. The observed path uses autodefrag under metadata pressure; flushoncommit is not required, and writeback and reclaim tasks hang.
Summary
What happened
Deadlock in Btrfs defragmentation in Linux Foundation Linux Kernel allows local users to hang filesystem operations via file activity. In fs/btrfs/defrag.c, defrag_one_range reserves delayed-allocation space while holding dirty folios and extent locks, blocking reclaim that needs those locks. The observed path uses autodefrag under metadata pressure; flushoncommit is not required, and writeback and reclaim tasks hang.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-90265
- Published
- Sep 17, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 17, 2026
- Vendor
- Linux Foundation
- Product
- Linux Kernel
- Classifications
- T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 17, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 17, 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.
- Affected versionversion=22b398eeeed43d51e85b1008e51bf9663ac1f491 <a9701dd06e82c345fe70debdf8835b7eb5000c59
- Affected versionversion=22b398eeeed43d51e85b1008e51bf9663ac1f491 <ac916391e1c70801649f7d6f85014f687983bc33
- Affected versionversion=22b398eeeed43d51e85b1008e51bf9663ac1f491 <ba02eab28041f9a4bbe9fc90c7249644fef6de0f
- Affected versionversion=5.16
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
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Activity data is delayed. The latest report is Sep 28, 2026.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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