CVE-2026-93255: btrfs: make sure EXTENT_BUFFER_READING is cleared under refs_lock
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
btrfs: make sure EXTENT_BUFFER_READING is cleared under refs_lock
[FALSE ALERTS]
There is a bug report that the warning inside
invalidate_and_check_btree_folios() got triggered during btrfs/298:
BTRFS info (device sdd): first mount of filesystem f9bf732a-a19b-44b9-99a7-614ddff168e2
BTRFS info (device sdd): using crc32c checksum algorithm
BTRFS error (device sdd): failed to find fsid cb2fdb42-b638-4f2f-badd-4127467ba674 when attempting to open seed devices
BTRFS error (device sdd): failed to read chunk tree: -2
------------[ cut here ]------------
WARNING: disk-io.c:3342 at invalidate_and_check_btree_folios+0x260/0x3c0 [btrfs], CPU#4: mount/125993
CPU: 4 UID: 0 PID: 125993 Comm: mount Tainted: G W OE 7.1.0-rc7-custom+ #1 PREEMPT(full)
Hardware name: QEMU KVM Virtual Machine, BIOS edk2-20250812-19.fc42 08/12/2025
Call trace:
invalidate_and_check_btree_folios+0x260/0x3c0 [btrfs] (P)
open_ctree+0x1f50/0x23b0 [btrfs]
btrfs_get_tree+0x89c/0xc48 [btrfs]
vfs_get_tree+0x30/0x110
vfs_cmd_create+0x58/0xe8
__arm64_sys_fsconfig+0x39c/0x518
invoke_syscall.constprop.0+0x48/0x120
el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0x40/0xe8
do_el0_svc+0x24/0x38
el0_svc+0x50/0x310
el0t_64_sync_handler+0xa0/0xe8
el0t_64_sync+0x198/0x1a0
---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---
BTRFS warning (device sdd): unable to release extent buffer 365985792 owner 3 gen 17 refs 3 flags 0x5
[CAUSE]
In that invalidate_and_check_btree_folios() we wait for the eb to finish
its read, then check if it's only held by us and the btree inode.
If not, then do a warning as it may be still held, and could cause
problems.
But there is a small window where the check can lead to false alerts:
Thread A (Read endio) | Thread B (Unmount)
----------------------------------+-------------------------------------
end_bbio_meta_read() |
| The eb has one extra ref held |
| by the reader, and has |
| EXTENT_BUFFER_READING flag set | invalidate_and_check_btree_folios()
| | |
|- clear_extent_buffer_reading() | |
| | |- wait_on_bit_io();
| | | The EXTENT_BUFFER_READING flag is
| | | cleared
| | |- if (refcount_read(eb->refs) > 2)
| | The eb is held by the read, us
| | and btree inode, thus it
| | will trigger the warning
|- free_extent_buffer() |
[FIX]
Introduce a helper, free_extent_buffer_clear_reading().
If the new parameter, @clear_reading, is set, we will hold the spinlock
at the beginning of free_extent_buffer_clear_reading() to make sure the
EXTENT_BUFFER_READING flag is cleared inside the same critical section
of decreasing refs.
Now free_extent_buffer() will just call
free_extent_buffer_clear_reading() with @clear_reading set to false, so
no behavior change.
But for end_bbio_meta_read(), it will not clear_extent_buffer_reading()
directly, but pass @clear_reading as true.
Then inside invalidate_and_check_btree_folios(), hold the refs_lock
before reading refs.
So that we eliminate the race window completely.
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
cve · low confidence lookup
CVE-2026-93255 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
0CVSS vectors
3Timeline events
0ADP providers
4Source links
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
Sep 24, 2026, 15:51 UTC (UTC+00:00)
CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.