High 7.8Published Feb 27, 2025

CVE-2025-21753btrfs: fix use-after-free when attempting to join an aborted transaction

Updated under an hour ago (2026-10-19 07:23 UTC)

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In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: fix use-after-free when attempting to join an aborted transaction When we are trying to join the current transaction and if it's aborted, we read its 'aborted' field after unlocking fs_info->trans_lock and without holding any extra reference count on it. This means that a concurrent task that is aborting the transaction may free the transaction before we read its 'aborted' field, leading to a use-after-free. Fix this by reading the 'aborted' field while holding fs_info->trans_lock since any freeing task must first acquire that lock and set fs_info->running_transaction to NULL before freeing the transaction. This was reported by syzbot and Dmitry with the following stack traces from KASAN: ================================================================== BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in join_transaction+0xd9b/0xda0 fs/btrfs/transaction.c:278 Read of size 4 at addr ffff888011839024 by task kworker/u4:9/1128 CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 1128 Comm: kworker/u4:9 Not tainted 6.13.0-rc7-syzkaller-00019-gc45323b7560e #0 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2~bpo12+1 04/01/2014 Workqueue: events_unbound btrfs_async_reclaim_data_space Call Trace: <TASK> __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:94 [inline] dump_stack_lvl+0x241/0x360 lib/dump_stack.c:120 print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:378 [inline] print_report+0x169/0x550 mm/kasan/report.c:489 kasan_report+0x143/0x180 mm/kasan/report.c:602 join_transaction+0xd9b/0xda0 fs/btrfs/transaction.c:278 start_transaction+0xaf8/0x1670 fs/btrfs/transaction.c:697 flush_space+0x448/0xcf0 fs/btrfs/space-info.c:803 btrfs_async_reclaim_data_space+0x159/0x510 fs/btrfs/space-info.c:1321 process_one_work kernel/workqueue.c:3236 [inline] process_scheduled_works+0xa66/0x1840 kernel/workqueue.c:3317 worker_thread+0x870/0xd30 kernel/workqueue.c:3398 kthread+0x2f0/0x390 kernel/kthread.c:389 ret_from_fork+0x4b/0x80 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:147 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:244 </TASK> Allocated by task 5315: kasan_save_stack mm/kasan/common.c:47 [inline] kasan_save_track+0x3f/0x80 mm/kasan/common.c:68 poison_kmalloc_redzone mm/kasan/common.c:377 [inline] __kasan_kmalloc+0x98/0xb0 mm/kasan/common.c:394 kasan_kmalloc include/linux/kasan.h:260 [inline] __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x243/0x390 mm/slub.c:4329 kmalloc_noprof include/linux/slab.h:901 [inline] join_transaction+0x144/0xda0 fs/btrfs/transaction.c:308 start_transaction+0xaf8/0x1670 fs/btrfs/transaction.c:697 btrfs_create_common+0x1b2/0x2e0 fs/btrfs/inode.c:6572 lookup_open fs/namei.c:3649 [inline] open_last_lookups fs/namei.c:3748 [inline] path_openat+0x1c03/0x3590 fs/namei.c:3984 do_filp_open+0x27f/0x4e0 fs/namei.c:4014 do_sys_openat2+0x13e/0x1d0 fs/open.c:1402 do_sys_open fs/open.c:1417 [inline] __do_sys_creat fs/open.c:1495 [inline] __se_sys_creat fs/open.c:1489 [inline] __x64_sys_creat+0x123/0x170 fs/open.c:1489 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 Freed by task 5336: kasan_save_stack mm/kasan/common.c:47 [inline] kasan_save_track+0x3f/0x80 mm/kasan/common.c:68 kasan_save_free_info+0x40/0x50 mm/kasan/generic.c:582 poison_slab_object mm/kasan/common.c:247 [inline] __kasan_slab_free+0x59/0x70 mm/kasan/common.c:264 kasan_slab_free include/linux/kasan.h:233 [inline] slab_free_hook mm/slub.c:2353 [inline] slab_free mm/slub.c:4613 [inline] kfree+0x196/0x430 mm/slub.c:4761 cleanup_transaction fs/btrfs/transaction.c:2063 [inline] btrfs_commit_transaction+0x2c97/0x3720 fs/btrfs/transaction.c:2598 insert_balance_item+0x1284/0x20b0 fs/btrfs/volumes.c:3757 btrfs_balance+0x992/ ---truncated---

CVSS: 7.8 HIGH (v3.1, CNA)CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness (CWE): CWE-416
Known exploited: Not in CISA's KEV catalog
EPSS (exploitation in the next 30 days): Not loaded for this CVE
Assigned by: Linux
NVD analysis: Modified
Record last updated: Oct 15, 2026
First seen by InfoSec Signals: Oct 15, 2026

Affected products

Affected products

Linux Linux linux:linux (from the name)	from 871383be592ba7e819d27556591e315a0df38cee before cee55b1219568c80bf0d5dc55066e4a859baf753; from 871383be592ba7e819d27556591e315a0df38cee before c7a53757717e68af94a56929d57f1e6daff220ec; 871383be592ba7e819d27556591e315a0df38cee builds before 7e954b6bb95d67ae4d1a20e9cfd83c182cf929bc; 871383be592ba7e819d27556591e315a0df38cee builds before 6ba4663ada6c6315af23a6669d386146634808ec; 871383be592ba7e819d27556591e315a0df38cee builds before 8f5cff471039caa2b088060c074c2bf2081bcb01; 871383be592ba7e819d27556591e315a0df38cee builds before 86d71a026a7f63da905db9add845c8ee88801eca; from 871383be592ba7e819d27556591e315a0df38cee before ce628048390dad80320d5a1f74de6ca1e1be91e7; from 871383be592ba7e819d27556591e315a0df38cee before e2f0943cf37305dbdeaf9846e3c941451bcdef63	CNA record
Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 TM MFP - GNU/Linux subsystem siemens:simatic_s7_1500_tm_mfp_gnu_linux_subsystem (from the name)	all versions	CISA ADP
linux linux_kernel linux:linux_kernel	from 3.4 before 5.4.291; from 5.5 before 5.10.235; from 5.11 before 5.15.179; from 5.16 before 6.1.129; from 6.2 before 6.6.78; from 6.7 before 6.12.14; from 6.13 before 6.13.3; 6.14	NVD

References

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cee55b1219568c80bf0d5dc55066e4a859baf753patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c7a53757717e68af94a56929d57f1e6daff220ecpatch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7e954b6bb95d67ae4d1a20e9cfd83c182cf929bcpatch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6ba4663ada6c6315af23a6669d386146634808ecpatch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8f5cff471039caa2b088060c074c2bf2081bcb01patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/86d71a026a7f63da905db9add845c8ee88801ecapatch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ce628048390dad80320d5a1f74de6ca1e1be91e7patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e2f0943cf37305dbdeaf9846e3c941451bcdef63patch
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/03/msg00028.html
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/05/msg00030.html
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-265688.html
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-784472.html

The CVE record on cve.org NVD's entry

The CVE record is authoritative. Products marked “from the name” were identified from the CNA's free-text names, not a CPE, and are matched less certainly. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.