In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
btrfs: fix a NULL pointer dereference when failed to start a new trasacntion
[BUG]
Syzbot reported a NULL pointer dereference with the following crash:
FAULT_INJECTION: forcing a failure.
start_transaction+0x830/0x1670 fs/btrfs/transaction.c:676
prepare_to_relocate+0x31f/0x4c0 fs/btrfs/relocation.c:3642
relocate_block_group+0x169/0xd20 fs/btrfs/relocation.c:3678
...
BTRFS info (device loop0): balance: ended with status: -12
Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc00000000cc: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN NOPTI
KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000660-0x0000000000000667]
RIP: 0010:btrfs_update_reloc_root+0x362/0xa80 fs/btrfs/relocation.c:926
Call Trace:
commit_fs_roots+0x2ee/0x720 fs/btrfs/transaction.c:1496
btrfs_commit_transaction+0xfaf/0x3740 fs/btrfs/transaction.c:2430
del_balance_item fs/btrfs/volumes.c:3678 [inline]
reset_balance_state+0x25e/0x3c0 fs/btrfs/volumes.c:3742
btrfs_balance+0xead/0x10c0 fs/btrfs/volumes.c:4574
btrfs_ioctl_balance+0x493/0x7c0 fs/btrfs/ioctl.c:3673
vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline]
__do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:907 [inline]
__se_sys_ioctl+0xf9/0x170 fs/ioctl.c:893
do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline]
do_syscall_64+0xf3/0x230 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f
[CAUSE]
The allocation failure happens at the start_transaction() inside
prepare_to_relocate(), and during the error handling we call
unset_reloc_control(), which makes fs_info->balance_ctl to be NULL.
Then we continue the error path cleanup in btrfs_balance() by calling
reset_balance_state() which will call del_balance_item() to fully delete
the balance item in the root tree.
However during the small window between set_reloc_contrl() and
unset_reloc_control(), we can have a subvolume tree update and created a
reloc_root for that subvolume.
Then we go into the final btrfs_commit_transaction() of
del_balance_item(), and into btrfs_update_reloc_root() inside
commit_fs_roots().
That function checks if fs_info->reloc_ctl is in the merge_reloc_tree
stage, but since fs_info->reloc_ctl is NULL, it results a NULL pointer
dereference.
[FIX]
Just add extra check on fs_info->reloc_ctl inside
btrfs_update_reloc_root(), before checking
fs_info->reloc_ctl->merge_reloc_tree.
That DEAD_RELOC_TREE handling is to prevent further modification to the
reloc tree during merge stage, but since there is no reloc_ctl at all,
we do not need to bother that.
What the EG score is made of (scorer v4.0: the three questions the 0–10 score mixes, published apart · methodology)
The EG score (5.5): severity, escalated by confirmed exploitation. This CVE's 5.5 is its impact severity (EG Severity), not escalated.
- EG Severity
- 5.5 MEDIUMCVSS-B, impact only: no KEV listing, EPSS or EG-KEV tier raises it.GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
- EG Likelihood
- 0.3% within 30 daysSource: FIRST EPSS (model v2026.06.15, score date 2026-10-25). FIRST's exploitation probability, not an EchelonGraph model.
- Confirmed exploitation
- None on record (CISA KEV, EG-KEV Tier 1)Reported apart from the likelihood: an observed fact, not a probability.
- EG Priority
- SSVC Track at medium mission impactTrack at every mission impact level.CISA BOD 26-04: 60 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.Each input and its source, and whom BOD 26-04 binds: the SSVC and BOD 26-04 blocks below.
SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph)Track at every mission impact level.
A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines.
Exploitation none (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE. Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it. CISA's table makes it high when Mission Prevalence is Essential — the vulnerable component "directly provides capabilities that constitute at least one MEF for at least one entity" (MEF: mission essential function) — or when Public Well-Being Impact is Irreversible: "multiple fatalities are likely", the cyber-physical system "is likely lost or destroyed", "extreme or serious externalities" are imposed on other parties, or social systems such as elections or the financial grid "are destabilized and potentially collapse". CISA's decision table
BOD 26-04 (CISA's remediation timeline, Table 1)60 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.
The score's inputs: In CISA KEV no (CISA's KEV catalog) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). Whether your system is publicly exposed is yours to answer. BOD 26-04 binds US Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies; for anyone else it is CISA's published timeline, a reference rather than an obligation. The directive · how EchelonGraph applies it