CVE-2026-43046

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

btrfs: reject root items with drop_progress and zero drop_level

[BUG] When recovering relocation at mount time, merge_reloc_root() and btrfs_drop_snapshot() both use BUG_ON(level == 0) to guard against an impossible state: a non-zero drop_progress combined with a zero drop_level in a root_item, which can be triggered:

————[ cut here ]———— kernel BUG at fs/btrfs/relocation.c:1545! Oops: invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] SMP KASAN NOPTI CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 283 … Tainted: 6.18.0+ #16 PREEMPT(voluntary) Tainted: [O]=OOT_MODULE, [E]=UNSIGNED_MODULE Hardware name: QEMU Ubuntu 24.04 PC v2, BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 RIP: 0010:merge_reloc_root+0x1266/0x1650 fs/btrfs/relocation.c:1545 Code: ffff0000 00004589 d7e9acfa ffffe8a1 79bafebe 02000000 Call Trace: merge_reloc_roots+0x295/0x890 fs/btrfs/relocation.c:1861 btrfs_recover_relocation+0xd6e/0x11d0 fs/btrfs/relocation.c:4195 btrfs_start_pre_rw_mount+0xa4d/0x1810 fs/btrfs/disk-io.c:3130 open_ctree+0x5824/0x5fe0 fs/btrfs/disk-io.c:3640 btrfs_fill_super fs/btrfs/super.c:987 [inline] btrfs_get_tree_super fs/btrfs/super.c:1951 [inline] btrfs_get_tree_subvol fs/btrfs/super.c:2094 [inline] btrfs_get_tree+0x111c/0x2190 fs/btrfs/super.c:2128 vfs_get_tree+0x9a/0x370 fs/super.c:1758 fc_mount fs/namespace.c:1199 [inline] do_new_mount_fc fs/namespace.c:3642 [inline] do_new_mount fs/namespace.c:3718 [inline] path_mount+0x5b8/0x1ea0 fs/namespace.c:4028 do_mount fs/namespace.c:4041 [inline] __do_sys_mount fs/namespace.c:4229 [inline] __se_sys_mount fs/namespace.c:4206 [inline] __x64_sys_mount+0x282/0x320 fs/namespace.c:4206 … RIP: 0033:0x7f969c9a8fde Code: 0f1f4000 48c7c2b0 fffffff7 d8648902 b8ffffff ffc3660f —[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]—

The bug is reproducible on 7.0.0-rc2-next-20260310 with our dynamic metadata fuzzing tool that corrupts btrfs metadata at runtime.

[CAUSE] A non-zero drop_progress.objectid means an interrupted btrfs_drop_snapshot() left a resume point on disk, and in that case drop_level must be greater than 0 because the checkpoint is only saved at internal node levels.

Although this invariant is enforced when the kernel writes the root item, it is not validated when the root item is read back from disk. That allows on-disk corruption to provide an invalid state with drop_progress.objectid != 0 and drop_level == 0.

When relocation recovery later processes such a root item, merge_reloc_root() reads drop_level and hits BUG_ON(level == 0). The same invalid metadata can also trigger the corresponding BUG_ON() in btrfs_drop_snapshot().

[FIX] Fix this by validating the root_item invariant in tree-checker when reading root items from disk: if drop_progress.objectid is non-zero, drop_level must also be non-zero. Reject such malformed metadata with -EUCLEAN before it reaches merge_reloc_root() or btrfs_drop_snapshot() and triggers the BUG_ON.

After the fix, the same corruption is correctly rejected by tree-checker and the BUG_ON is no longer triggered.

Weakness

The product contains an assert() or similar statement that can be triggered by an attacker, which leads to an application exit or other behavior that is more severe than necessary.

Affected Software

Extended Description

While assertion is good for catching logic errors and reducing the chances of reaching more serious vulnerability conditions, it can still lead to a denial of service. For example, if a server handles multiple simultaneous connections, and an assert() occurs in one single connection that causes all other connections to be dropped, this is a reachable assertion that leads to a denial of service.

Potential Mitigations

References

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/295f8075d00442d71dc9ccae421ace1c0d2d9224
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/53ceedd1eb6280ca8359664e0226983eded2ed73
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/850de3d87f4720b71ccdcd44f4aa57e46b53a3f3
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ac68a9a8e481ab1becaed29d6d23087dac3de15d
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b17b79ff896305fd74980a5f72afec370ee88ca4
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bedaf7d0b9d793e116f16b4d9a7dbc94bcc80443
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/de585ee18dd5601745f65a60fef7b7ceebd78c83