# CVE-2023-54002: btrfs: fix assertion of exclop condition when starting balance

> A race condition in the Linux kernel btrfs filesystem can cause a kernel assertion failure and system crash when concurrent balance and device add operations occur.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **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:** 24 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-54002, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54002, GHSA-m54r-3p53-fcch, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2023-54002, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54002

## What is CVE-2023-54002?

CVE-2023-54002 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 Dec 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: fix assertion of exclop condition when starting balance

Balance as exclusive state is compatible with paused balance and device
add, which makes some things more complicated. The assertion of valid
states when starting from paused balance needs to take into account two
more states, the combinations can be hit when there are several threads
racing to start balance and device add. This won't typically happen when
the commands are started from command line.

Scenario 1: With exclusive_operation state == BTRFS_EXCLOP_NONE.

Concurrently adding multiple devices to the same mount point and
btrfs_exclop_finish executed finishes before assertion in
btrfs_exclop_balance, exclusive_operation will changed to
BTRFS_EXCLOP_NONE state which lead to assertion failed:

  fs_info->exclusive_operation == BTRFS_EXCLOP_BALANCE ||
  fs_info->exclusive_operation == BTRFS_EXCLOP_DEV_ADD,
  in fs/btrfs/ioctl.c:456
  Call Trace:
   <TASK>
   btrfs_exclop_balance+0x13c/0x310
   ? memdup_user+0xab/0xc0
   ? PTR_ERR+0x17/0x20
   btrfs_ioctl_add_dev+0x2ee/0x320
   btrfs_ioctl+0x9d5/0x10d0
   ? btrfs_ioctl_encoded_write+0xb80/0xb80
   __x64_sys_ioctl+0x197/0x210
   do_syscall_64+0x3c/0xb0
   entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd

Scenario 2: With exclusive_operation state == BTRFS_EXCLOP_BALANCE_PAUSED.

Concurrently adding multiple devices to the same mount point and
btrfs_exclop_balance executed finish before the latter thread execute
assertion in btrfs_exclop_balance, exclusive_operation will changed to
BTRFS_EXCLOP_BALANCE_PAUSED state which lead to assertion failed:

  fs_info->exclusive_operation == BTRFS_EXCLOP_BALANCE ||
  fs_info->exclusive_operation == BTRFS_EXCLOP_DEV_ADD ||
  fs_info->exclusive_operation == BTRFS_EXCLOP_NONE,
  fs/btrfs/ioctl.c:458
  Call Trace:
   <TASK>
   btrfs_exclop_balance+0x240/0x410
   ? memdup_user+0xab/0xc0
   ? PTR_ERR+0x17/0x20
   btrfs_ioctl_add_dev+0x2ee/0x320
   btrfs_ioctl+0x9d5/0x10d0
   ? btrfs_ioctl_encoded_write+0xb80/0xb80
   __x64_sys_ioctl+0x197/0x210
   do_syscall_64+0x3c/0xb0
   entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd

An example of the failed assertion is below, which shows that the
paused balance is also needed to be checked.

  root@syzkaller:/home/xsk# ./repro
  Failed to add device /dev/vda, errno 14
  Failed to add device /dev/vda, errno 14
  Failed to add device /dev/vda, errno 14
  Failed to add device /dev/vda, errno 14
  Failed to add device /dev/vda, errno 14
  Failed to add device /dev/vda, errno 14
  Failed to add device /dev/vda, errno 14
  Failed to add device /dev/vda, errno 14
  Failed to add device /dev/vda, errno 14
  [  416.611428][ T7970] BTRFS info (device loop0): fs_info exclusive_operation: 0
  Failed to add device /dev/vda, errno 14
  [  416.613973][ T7971] BTRFS info (device loop0): fs_info exclusive_operation: 3
  Failed to add device /dev/vda, errno 14
  [  416.615456][ T7972] BTRFS info (device loop0): fs_info exclusive_operation: 3
  Failed to add device /dev/vda, errno 14
  [  416.617528][ T7973] BTRFS info (device loop0): fs_info exclusive_operation: 3
  Failed to add device /dev/vda, errno 14
  [  416.618359][ T7974] BTRFS info (device loop0): fs_info exclusive_operation: 3
  Failed to add device /dev/vda, errno 14
  [  416.622589][ T7975] BTRFS info (device loop0): fs_info exclusive_operation: 3
  Failed to add device /dev/vda, errno 14
  [  416.624034][ T7976] BTRFS info (device loop0): fs_info exclusive_operation: 3
  Failed to add device /dev/vda, errno 14
  [  416.626420][ T7977] BTRFS info (device loop0): fs_info exclusive_operation: 3
  Failed to add device /dev/vda, errno 14
  [  416.627643][ T7978] BTRFS info (device loop0): fs_info exclusive_operation: 3
  Failed to add device /dev/vda, errno 14
  [  416.629006][ T7979] BTRFS info (device loop0): fs_info exclusive_operation: 3
  [  416.630298][ T7980] BTRFS info (device loop0): fs_info exclusive_operation: 3
  Fai
---truncated---

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-54002?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-54002?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-54002 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54002 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-54002 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-54002 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 24 Dec 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-2023-54002 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2023-54002/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54002/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-54002
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-54002
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-54002

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54002/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.