# CVE-2024-26616: btrfs: scrub: avoid use-after-free when chunk length is not 64K aligned > A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's btrfs scrub functionality can lead to system crashes or potential code execution when processing unaligned chunks. - **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 29 Feb 2024 - **Updated:** 11 May 2026 - **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-26616, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-26616, GHSA-q98h-hc6w-gjhg, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-26616 ## What is CVE-2024-26616? CVE-2024-26616 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 29 Feb 2024. 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: scrub: avoid use-after-free when chunk length is not 64K aligned [BUG] There is a bug report that, on a ext4-converted btrfs, scrub leads to various problems, including: - "unable to find chunk map" errors BTRFS info (device vdb): scrub: started on devid 1 BTRFS critical (device vdb): unable to find chunk map for logical 2214744064 length 4096 BTRFS critical (device vdb): unable to find chunk map for logical 2214744064 length 45056 This would lead to unrepariable errors. - Use-after-free KASAN reports: ================================================================== BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in __blk_rq_map_sg+0x18f/0x7c0 Read of size 8 at addr ffff8881013c9040 by task btrfs/909 CPU: 0 PID: 909 Comm: btrfs Not tainted 6.7.0-x64v3-dbg #11 c50636e9419a8354555555245df535e380563b2b Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 2023.11-2 12/24/2023 Call Trace: dump_stack_lvl+0x43/0x60 print_report+0xcf/0x640 kasan_report+0xa6/0xd0 __blk_rq_map_sg+0x18f/0x7c0 virtblk_prep_rq.isra.0+0x215/0x6a0 [virtio_blk 19a65eeee9ae6fcf02edfad39bb9ddee07dcdaff] virtio_queue_rqs+0xc4/0x310 [virtio_blk 19a65eeee9ae6fcf02edfad39bb9ddee07dcdaff] blk_mq_flush_plug_list.part.0+0x780/0x860 __blk_flush_plug+0x1ba/0x220 blk_finish_plug+0x3b/0x60 submit_initial_group_read+0x10a/0x290 [btrfs e57987a360bed82fe8756dcd3e0de5406ccfe965] flush_scrub_stripes+0x38e/0x430 [btrfs e57987a360bed82fe8756dcd3e0de5406ccfe965] scrub_stripe+0x82a/0xae0 [btrfs e57987a360bed82fe8756dcd3e0de5406ccfe965] scrub_chunk+0x178/0x200 [btrfs e57987a360bed82fe8756dcd3e0de5406ccfe965] scrub_enumerate_chunks+0x4bc/0xa30 [btrfs e57987a360bed82fe8756dcd3e0de5406ccfe965] btrfs_scrub_dev+0x398/0x810 [btrfs e57987a360bed82fe8756dcd3e0de5406ccfe965] btrfs_ioctl+0x4b9/0x3020 [btrfs e57987a360bed82fe8756dcd3e0de5406ccfe965] __x64_sys_ioctl+0xbd/0x100 do_syscall_64+0x5d/0xe0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0x6b RIP: 0033:0x7f47e5e0952b - Crash, mostly due to above use-after-free [CAUSE] The converted fs has the following data chunk layout: item 2 key (FIRST_CHUNK_TREE CHUNK_ITEM 2214658048) itemoff 16025 itemsize 80 length 86016 owner 2 stripe_len 65536 type DATA|single For above logical bytenr 2214744064, it's at the chunk end (2214658048 + 86016 = 2214744064). This means btrfs_submit_bio() would split the bio, and trigger endio function for both of the two halves. However scrub_submit_initial_read() would only expect the endio function to be called once, not any more. This means the first endio function would already free the bbio::bio, leaving the bvec freed, thus the 2nd endio call would lead to use-after-free. [FIX] - Make sure scrub_read_endio() only updates bits in its range Since we may read less than 64K at the end of the chunk, we should not touch the bits beyond chunk boundary. - Make sure scrub_submit_initial_read() only to read the chunk range This is done by calculating the real number of sectors we need to read, and add sector-by-sector to the bio. Thankfully the scrub read repair path won't need extra fixes: - scrub_stripe_submit_repair_read() With above fixes, we won't update error bit for range beyond chunk, thus scrub_stripe_submit_repair_read() should never submit any read beyond the chunk. Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-26616? It affects 1 product. Products: Linux kernel. ## How do I fix CVE-2024-26616? Apply the vendor's patch. ## Is CVE-2024-26616 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-26616 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-2024-26616 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2024-26616 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 29 Feb 2024. 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-2024-26616 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-2024-26616/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-26616/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-26616 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-26616 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-26616 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-26616/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.