Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2024-26726

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-04-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.1.79 / 6.6.18 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 drop extent_map for free space inode on write error While running the CI for an unrelated change I hit the following panic with generic/648 on btrfs_holes_spacecache. assertion failed: block_start != EXTENT_MAP_HOLE, in fs/btrfs/extent_io.c:1385 ------------[ cut here ]------------ kernel BUG at fs/btrfs/extent_io.c:1385! invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI CPU: 1 PID: 2695096 Comm: fsstress Kdump: loaded Tainted: G W 6.8.0-rc2+ #1 RIP: 0010:__extent_writepage_io.constprop.0+0x4c1/0x5c0 Call Trace: <TASK> extent_write_cache_pages+0x2ac/0x8f0 extent_writepages+0x87/0x110 do_writepages+0xd5/0x1f0 filemap_fdatawrite_wbc+0x63/0x90 __filemap_fdatawrite_range+0x5c/0x80 btrfs_fdatawrite_range+0x1f/0x50 btrfs_write_out_cache+0x507/0x560 btrfs_write_dirty_block_groups+0x32a/0x420 commit_cowonly_roots+0x21b/0x290 btrfs_commit_transaction+0x813/0x1360 btrfs_sync_file+0x51a/0x640 __x64_sys_fdatasync+0x52/0x90 do_syscall_64+0x9c/0x190 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x6e/0x76 This happens because we fail to write out the free space cache in one instance, come back around and attempt to write it again. However on the second pass through we go to call btrfs_get_extent() on the inode to get the extent mapping. Because this is a new block group, and with the free space inode we always search the commit root to avoid deadlocking with the tree, we find nothing and return a EXTENT_MAP_HOLE for the requested range. This happens because the first time we try to write the space cache out we hit an error, and on an error we drop the extent mapping. This is normal for normal files, but the free space cache inode is special. We always expect the extent map to be correct. Thus the second time through we end up with a bogus extent map. Since we're deprecating this feature, the most straightforward way to fix this is to simply skip dropping the extent map range for this failed range. I shortened the test by using error injection to stress the area to make it easier to reproduce. With this patch in place we no longer panic with my error injection test.

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-617

Attacker-controllable input can reach an assertion that aborts the process when it fails, so a check meant for debugging becomes a denial-of-service in production. A single crafted request takes the service down. The fix is to handle unexpected input gracefully on reachable paths rather than asserting on it.

General guidance for the reachable assertion 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:< 6.1.79>= 6.2, < 6.6.18>= 6.7, < 6.7.6= 6.8

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 6.1.79 / 6.6.18 / 6.7.6 or later
Fixed in 6.1.796.6.186.7.6
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel version 6.1.79+ (for 6.1.y), 6.6.18+ (for 6.2-6.6.y), 6.7.6+ (for 6.7.y), or a 6.8.x version containing the fix

  1. Identify current kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Determine the appropriate fixed kernel version based on your current branch: for 6.1.x upgrade to >= 6.1.79, for 6.2.x-6.6.x upgrade to >= 6.6.18, for 6.7.x upgrade to >= 6.7.6, for 6.8.x upgrade to a version containing the fix (check your distribution's kernel repository)
  3. Update the kernel using your distribution's package manager (e.g., `apt update && apt upgrade linux-image` for Debian/Ubuntu, `yum update kernel` for RHEL/CentOS, or `pacman -Syu linux` for Arch)
  4. Reboot the system to load the new kernel with `sudo reboot`
  5. Verify the fix is applied by checking `uname -r` shows a version >= the fixed version for your branch
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could introduce changes to driver/module compatibility; ensure critical modules are available in the new kernel

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-2024-26726 — 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-2024-26726 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