Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2024-26644

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-03-26
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.10.210 / 5.15.149 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: don't abort filesystem when attempting to snapshot deleted subvolume If the source file descriptor to the snapshot ioctl refers to a deleted subvolume, we get the following abort: BTRFS: Transaction aborted (error -2) WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 833 at fs/btrfs/transaction.c:1875 create_pending_snapshot+0x1040/0x1190 [btrfs] Modules linked in: pata_acpi btrfs ata_piix libata scsi_mod virtio_net blake2b_generic xor net_failover virtio_rng failover scsi_common rng_core raid6_pq libcrc32c CPU: 0 PID: 833 Comm: t_snapshot_dele Not tainted 6.7.0-rc6 #2 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-1.fc39 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:create_pending_snapshot+0x1040/0x1190 [btrfs] RSP: 0018:ffffa09c01337af8 EFLAGS: 00010282 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff9982053e7c78 RCX: 0000000000000027 RDX: ffff99827dc20848 RSI: 0000000000000001 RDI: ffff99827dc20840 RBP: ffffa09c01337c00 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: ffffa09c01337998 R10: 0000000000000003 R11: ffffffffb96da248 R12: fffffffffffffffe R13: ffff99820535bb28 R14: ffff99820b7bd000 R15: ffff99820381ea80 FS: 00007fe20aadabc0(0000) GS:ffff99827dc00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000559a120b502f CR3: 00000000055b6000 CR4: 00000000000006f0 Call Trace: <TASK> ? create_pending_snapshot+0x1040/0x1190 [btrfs] ? __warn+0x81/0x130 ? create_pending_snapshot+0x1040/0x1190 [btrfs] ? report_bug+0x171/0x1a0 ? handle_bug+0x3a/0x70 ? exc_invalid_op+0x17/0x70 ? asm_exc_invalid_op+0x1a/0x20 ? create_pending_snapshot+0x1040/0x1190 [btrfs] ? create_pending_snapshot+0x1040/0x1190 [btrfs] create_pending_snapshots+0x92/0xc0 [btrfs] btrfs_commit_transaction+0x66b/0xf40 [btrfs] btrfs_mksubvol+0x301/0x4d0 [btrfs] btrfs_mksnapshot+0x80/0xb0 [btrfs] __btrfs_ioctl_snap_create+0x1c2/0x1d0 [btrfs] btrfs_ioctl_snap_create_v2+0xc4/0x150 [btrfs] btrfs_ioctl+0x8a6/0x2650 [btrfs] ? kmem_cache_free+0x22/0x340 ? do_sys_openat2+0x97/0xe0 __x64_sys_ioctl+0x97/0xd0 do_syscall_64+0x46/0xf0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x6e/0x76 RIP: 0033:0x7fe20abe83af RSP: 002b:00007ffe6eff1360 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000010 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000000000000004 RCX: 00007fe20abe83af RDX: 00007ffe6eff23c0 RSI: 0000000050009417 RDI: 0000000000000003 RBP: 0000000000000003 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 00007fe20ad16cd0 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 0000000000000000 R13: 00007ffe6eff13c0 R14: 00007fe20ad45000 R15: 0000559a120b6d58 </TASK> ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- BTRFS: error (device vdc: state A) in create_pending_snapshot:1875: errno=-2 No such entry BTRFS info (device vdc: state EA): forced readonly BTRFS warning (device vdc: state EA): Skipping commit of aborted transaction. BTRFS: error (device vdc: state EA) in cleanup_transaction:2055: errno=-2 No such entry This happens because create_pending_snapshot() initializes the new root item as a copy of the source root item. This includes the refs field, which is 0 for a deleted subvolume. The call to btrfs_insert_root() therefore inserts a root with refs == 0. btrfs_get_new_fs_root() then finds the root and returns -ENOENT if refs == 0, which causes create_pending_snapshot() to abort. Fix it by checking the source root's refs before attempting the snapshot, but after locking subvol_sem to avoid racing with deletion.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-908

Memory or a resource is used before it has been initialised, so its contents are whatever happened to be there — sometimes leaking earlier data, sometimes values an attacker can influence. Behaviour becomes unpredictable and occasionally exploitable. Remediation is initialising every resource before use and ensuring initialisation happens on all code paths.

General guidance for the use of uninitialized resource class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:< 5.10.210>= 5.11, < 5.15.149>= 5.16, < 6.1.76>= 6.2, < 6.6.15>= 6.7, < 6.7.3= 6.8
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 10.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.10.210 / 5.15.149 / 6.1.76 or later
Fixed in 5.10.2105.15.1496.1.76
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel >= 5.10.210, >= 5.15.149, >= 6.1.76, or >= 6.6.15 (depending on which branch you are on); Debian 10 users should upgrade to Debian 11/12

  1. Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Determine which stable kernel branch applies to your current version based on: >=5.10.210, >=5.15.149, >=6.1.76, or >=6.6.15
  3. Upgrade the Linux kernel to a version that includes the fix (e.g., 5.10.210+, 5.15.149+, 6.1.76+, or 6.6.15+)
  4. For Debian 10 (Buster), consider upgrading to a newer Debian release (Debian 11 or 12) which includes a fixed kernel, as Debian 10 is end-of-life
  5. Reboot the system to load the new kernel
  6. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and confirming the vulnerability is resolved
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could introduce compatibility issues with third-party kernel modules; ensure critical modules are compatible with the new kernel version before upgrading

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,600. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-26644 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-26644 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data