# CVE-2022-49068: btrfs: release correct delalloc amount in direct IO write path

> A logic error in the Linux kernel's Btrfs filesystem can cause a kernel warning and potential instability during direct IO writes, leading to denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 26 Feb 2025
- **Updated:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-49068, GHSA-vm76-7cfx-c7v2, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-49068

## What is CVE-2022-49068?

CVE-2022-49068 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 26 Feb 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

btrfs: release correct delalloc amount in direct IO write path

Running generic/406 causes the following WARNING in btrfs_destroy_inode()
which tells there are outstanding extents left.

In btrfs_get_blocks_direct_write(), we reserve a temporary outstanding
extents with btrfs_delalloc_reserve_metadata() (or indirectly from
btrfs_delalloc_reserve_space(()). We then release the outstanding extents
with btrfs_delalloc_release_extents(). However, the "len" can be modified
in the COW case, which releases fewer outstanding extents than expected.

Fix it by calling btrfs_delalloc_release_extents() for the original length.

To reproduce the warning, the filesystem should be 1 GiB.  It's
triggering a short-write, due to not being able to allocate a large
extent and instead allocating a smaller one.

  WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 757 at fs/btrfs/inode.c:8848 btrfs_destroy_inode+0x1e6/0x210 [btrfs]
  Modules linked in: btrfs blake2b_generic xor lzo_compress
  lzo_decompress raid6_pq zstd zstd_decompress zstd_compress xxhash zram
  zsmalloc
  CPU: 0 PID: 757 Comm: umount Not tainted 5.17.0-rc8+ #101
  Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS d55cb5a 04/01/2014
  RIP: 0010:btrfs_destroy_inode+0x1e6/0x210 [btrfs]
  RSP: 0018:ffffc9000327bda8 EFLAGS: 00010206
  RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff888100548b78 RCX: 0000000000000000
  RDX: 0000000000026900 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: ffff888100548b78
  RBP: ffff888100548940 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: ffff88810b48aba8
  R10: 0000000000000001 R11: ffff8881004eb240 R12: ffff88810b48a800
  R13: ffff88810b48ec08 R14: ffff88810b48ed00 R15: ffff888100490c68
  FS:  00007f8549ea0b80(0000) GS:ffff888237c00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
  CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
  CR2: 00007f854a09e733 CR3: 000000010a2e9003 CR4: 0000000000370eb0
  DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000
  DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400
  Call Trace:
   <TASK>
   destroy_inode+0x33/0x70
   dispose_list+0x43/0x60
   evict_inodes+0x161/0x1b0
   generic_shutdown_super+0x2d/0x110
   kill_anon_super+0xf/0x20
   btrfs_kill_super+0xd/0x20 [btrfs]
   deactivate_locked_super+0x27/0x90
   cleanup_mnt+0x12c/0x180
   task_work_run+0x54/0x80
   exit_to_user_mode_prepare+0x152/0x160
   syscall_exit_to_user_mode+0x12/0x30
   do_syscall_64+0x42/0x80
   entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae
   RIP: 0033:0x7f854a000fb7

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-49068?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-49068?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2022-49068 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49068 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-49068 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-49068 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 26 Feb 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-49068 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49068/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49068/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-49068
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-49068
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-49068

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-49068/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.