CVE-2026-90265 btrfs: defrag: fix deadlock between defrag and delalloc space reservation
A deadlock in the Linux kernel btrfs filesystem can cause a denial of service when defrag and delalloc space reservation interact.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-90265?
CVE-2026-90265 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 17 Sep 2026. 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: defrag: fix deadlock between defrag and delalloc space reservation
While running fsstress with autodefrag and flushoncommit, hit a deadlock due to the fact that defrag reserves delalloc space while it's holding dirty and locked folios, besides the extent range lock. The stack traces are the following:
[958.624] task:kworker/u50:3 state:D stack:0 pid:20365 tgid:20365 ppid:2 task_flags:0x4208060 flags:0x00080000 [958.626] Workqueue: events_unbound btrfs_async_reclaim_metadata_space [btrfs] [958.627] Call Trace: [958.628] <TASK> [958.628] __schedule+0x4be/0x10f0 [958.629] ? preempt_count_add+0x69/0xa0 [958.630] schedule+0x26/0xd0 [958.631] wait_current_trans+0x102/0x160 [btrfs] [958.632] ? __pfx_autoremove_wake_function+0x10/0x10 [958.633] start_transaction+0x374/0x900 [btrfs] [958.634] btrfs_commit_current_transaction+0x1d/0x70 [btrfs] [958.635] flush_space+0xca/0x5e0 [btrfs] [958.636] ? _raw_spin_unlock+0x15/0x30 [958.637] ? btrfs_reduce_alloc_profile+0x8c/0x190 [btrfs] [958.639] ? _raw_spin_unlock+0x15/0x30 [958.640] ? calc_available_free_space.isra.0+0x6f/0x110 [btrfs] [958.641] do_async_reclaim_metadata_space+0x84/0x190 [btrfs] [958.642] btrfs_async_reclaim_metadata_space+0x64/0x80 [btrfs] [958.644] process_one_work+0x19d/0x3a0 [958.644] worker_thread+0x1c4/0x330 [958.645] ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 [958.646] kthread+0xfc/0x130 [958.647] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [958.648] ret_from_fork+0x1f7/0x2c0 [958.648] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [958.649] ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 [958.650] </TASK> [958.651] task:kworker/u49:7 state:D stack:0 pid:52990 tgid:52990 ppid:2 task_flags:0x4208060 flags:0x00080000 [958.653] Workqueue: writeback wb_workfn (flush-btrfs-334) [958.655] Call Trace: [958.655] <TASK> [958.656] __schedule+0x4be/0x10f0 [958.657] ? __blk_flush_plug+0xe9/0x140 [958.658] schedule+0x26/0xd0 [958.658] io_schedule+0x42/0x70 [958.659] folio_wait_bit_common+0x12b/0x330 [958.660] ? folio_wait_bit_common+0x100/0x330 [958.662] ? __pfx_wake_page_function+0x10/0x10 [958.663] extent_write_cache_pages+0x599/0x830 [btrfs] [958.664] ? acpi_fwnode_get_reference_args+0x1fa/0x270 [958.665] btrfs_writepages+0x77/0x130 [btrfs] [958.666] ? __pfx_end_bbio_data_write+0x10/0x10 [btrfs] [958.667] do_writepages+0xc6/0x160 [958.668] __writeback_single_inode+0x42/0x310 [958.669] writeback_sb_inodes+0x231/0x570 [958.670] wb_writeback+0x8a/0x340 [958.671] wb_workfn+0xbf/0x450 [958.672] ? finish_task_switch.isra.0+0xc1/0x350 [958.673] process_one_work+0x19d/0x3a0 [958.673] worker_thread+0x1c4/0x330 [958.674] ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 [958.675] kthread+0xfc/0x130 [958.676] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [958.676] ret_from_fork+0x1f7/0x2c0 [958.677] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [958.678] ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 [958.679] </TASK> [958.679] task:btrfs-cleaner state:D stack:0 pid:296750 tgid:296750 ppid:2 task_flags:0x208040 flags:0x00080000 [958.681] Call Trace: [958.682] <TASK> [958.682] __schedule+0x4be/0x10f0 [958.683] schedule+0x26/0xd0 [958.684] handle_reserve_ticket+0x1b9/0x2c0 [btrfs] [958.685] ? __pfx_autoremove_wake_function+0x10/0x10 [958.686] reserve_bytes+0x283/0x4c0 [btrfs] [958.687] btrfs_reserve_metadata_bytes+0x18/0xb0 [btrfs] [958.688] btrfs_delalloc_reserve_metadata+0x121/0x320 [btrfs] [958.690] btrfs_delalloc_reserve_space+0x46/0xb0 [btrfs] [958.691] btrfs_defrag_file+0x903/0x1110 [btrfs] [958.692] btrfs_run_defrag_inodes+0x334/0x430 [btrfs] [958.694] cleaner_kthread+0x97/0x1c0 [btrfs] [958.694] ? __pfx_cleaner_kthread+0x10/0x10 [btrfs] [958.696] kthread+0xfc/0x130 [958.696] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [958.697] ret_ ---truncated---
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-90265?
How do I fix CVE-2026-90265?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2026-90265 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-90265 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-102024, BELL-CVE-2026-90265, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-90265, GHSA-hrjh-vpgf-4c95, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-90265.