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Unscored CVE-2026-97416 EUVD-2026-86029GHSA-2886-j9mj-2v9x

btrfs: balance: fix potential bg lookup failure in btrfs_may_alloc_data_chunk()

Published Sep 24, 2026 · Updated Oct 3, 2026 · Assigned by Linux

Vendor: Linux Product: Linux Package: kernel Package: linux Package: linux Package: linux-6.12 Package: linux-allwinner-5.19 Package: linux-aws Package: linux-aws-5.0 Package: linux-aws-5.11 Package: linux-aws-5.13 Package: linux-aws-5.15 Package: linux-aws-5.19 Package: linux-aws-5.3 Package: linux-aws-5.4 Package: linux-aws-5.8 Package: linux-aws-6.14 Package: linux-aws-6.17 Package: linux-aws-6.2 Package: linux-aws-6.5 Package: linux-aws-6.8 Package: linux-aws-7.0 Package: linux-aws-fips Package: linux-aws-hwe Package: linux-azure Package: linux-azure-4.15 Package: linux-azure-5.11 Package: linux-azure-5.13 Package: linux-azure-5.15 Package: linux-azure-5.19 Package: linux-azure-5.3 Package: linux-azure-5.4 Package: linux-azure-5.8 Package: linux-azure-6.11 Package: linux-azure-6.14 Package: linux-azure-6.17 Package: linux-azure-6.2 Package: linux-azure-6.5 Package: linux-azure-6.8 Package: linux-azure-7.0 Package: linux-azure-edge Package: linux-azure-fde Package: linux-azure-fde-5.15 Package: linux-azure-fde-5.19 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.14 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.17 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.2 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.8 Package: linux-azure-fde-7.0 Package: linux-azure-fips Package: linux-azure-nvidia Package: linux-azure-nvidia-6.14 Package: linux-bluefield Package: linux-fips Package: linux-gcp Package: linux-gcp-4.15 Package: linux-gcp-5.11 Package: linux-gcp-5.13 Package: linux-gcp-5.15 Package: linux-gcp-5.19 Package: linux-gcp-5.3 Package: linux-gcp-5.4 Package: linux-gcp-5.8 Package: linux-gcp-6.11 Package: linux-gcp-6.14 Package: linux-gcp-6.17 Package: linux-gcp-6.2 Package: linux-gcp-6.5 Package: linux-gcp-6.8 Package: linux-gcp-7.0 Package: linux-gcp-fips Package: linux-gke Package: linux-gke-4.15 Package: linux-gke-5.15 Package: linux-gke-5.4 Package: linux-gkeop Package: linux-gkeop-5.15 Package: linux-gkeop-5.4 Package: linux-hwe Package: linux-hwe-5.11 Package: linux-hwe-5.13 Package: linux-hwe-5.15 Package: linux-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-hwe-5.4 Package: linux-hwe-5.8 Package: linux-hwe-6.11 Package: linux-hwe-6.14 Package: linux-hwe-6.17 Package: linux-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-hwe-6.8 Package: linux-hwe-7.0 Package: linux-hwe-edge Package: linux-ibm Package: linux-ibm-5.15 Package: linux-ibm-5.4 Package: linux-ibm-6.8 Package: linux-intel-5.13 Package: linux-intel-iot-realtime Package: linux-intel-iotg Package: linux-intel-iotg-5.15 Package: linux-iot Package: linux-kvm Package: linux-lowlatency Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 Package: linux-lts-xenial Package: linux-nvidia Package: linux-nvidia-6.11 Package: linux-nvidia-6.17 Package: linux-nvidia-6.2 Package: linux-nvidia-6.5 Package: linux-nvidia-6.8 Package: linux-nvidia-7.0 Package: linux-nvidia-bos Package: linux-nvidia-lowlatency Package: linux-nvidia-tegra Package: linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15 Package: linux-nvidia-tegra-igx Package: linux-oem Package: linux-oem-5.10 Package: linux-oem-5.13 Package: linux-oem-5.14 Package: linux-oem-5.17 Package: linux-oem-5.6 Package: linux-oem-6.0 Package: linux-oem-6.1 Package: linux-oem-6.11 Package: linux-oem-6.14 Package: linux-oem-6.17 Package: linux-oem-6.5 Package: linux-oem-6.8 Package: linux-oem-7.0 Package: linux-oracle Package: linux-oracle-5.0 Package: linux-oracle-5.11 Package: linux-oracle-5.13 Package: linux-oracle-5.15 Package: linux-oracle-5.3 Package: linux-oracle-5.4 Package: linux-oracle-5.8 Package: linux-oracle-6.14 Package: linux-oracle-6.17 Package: linux-oracle-6.5 Package: linux-oracle-6.8 Package: linux-oracle-7.0 Package: linux-raspi Package: linux-raspi-5.4 Package: linux-raspi-realtime Package: linux-raspi2 Package: linux-realtime Package: linux-realtime-6.14 Package: linux-realtime-6.17 Package: linux-realtime-6.8 Package: linux-riscv Package: linux-riscv-5.11 Package: linux-riscv-5.15 Package: linux-riscv-5.19 Package: linux-riscv-5.8 Package: linux-riscv-6.14 Package: linux-riscv-6.17 Package: linux-riscv-6.5 Package: linux-riscv-6.8 Package: linux-riscv-7.0 Package: linux-starfive-5.19 Package: linux-starfive-6.2 Package: linux-starfive-6.5 Package: linux-vmware Package: linux-xilinx Package: linux-xilinx-zynqmp Platform: Linux Ecosystem: Azure Linux Ecosystem: Debian Ecosystem: Ubuntu

Description

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

btrfs: balance: fix potential bg lookup failure in btrfs_may_alloc_data_chunk()

[BUG]
Running btrfs balance can trigger a null-ptr-deref before relocating a
data chunk when metadata corruption leaves a chunk in the chunk tree
without a corresponding block group in the in-memory cache:

KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000088-0x000000000000008f]
RIP: 0010:btrfs_may_alloc_data_chunk+0x40/0x1c0 fs/btrfs/volumes.c:3601
Call Trace:
__btrfs_balance fs/btrfs/volumes.c:4217 [inline]
btrfs_balance+0x2516/0x42b0 fs/btrfs/volumes.c:4604
btrfs_ioctl_balance fs/btrfs/ioctl.c:3577 [inline]
btrfs_ioctl+0x25cf/0x5b90 fs/btrfs/ioctl.c:5313
...

[CAUSE]
__btrfs_balance() iterates the on-disk chunk tree and passes the chunk
logical bytenr to btrfs_may_alloc_data_chunk() before relocating a data
chunk. That helper then queries the in-memory block group cache:

cache = btrfs_lookup_block_group(fs_info, chunk_offset);
chunk_type = cache->flags; /* cache may be NULL */

A corrupt image can contain a chunk item whose matching block group
item is missing, so no block group is ever inserted into the cache. In
that case btrfs_lookup_block_group() returns NULL.

The code only guards this with ASSERT(cache), which becomes a no-op when
CONFIG_BTRFS_ASSERT is disabled. The subsequent dereference of
cache->flags therefore crashes the kernel.

[FIX]
Add a NULL check after btrfs_lookup_block_group() in
btrfs_may_alloc_data_chunk() and print and error message for clarity.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Linux Linux 4.16 5.10.271

Fixed in Linux distributions

Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian 14 linux 7.2.6-1 —
Debian 13 linux 6.12.111-1 —
Debian 12 linux 6.1.190-1 —
Debian 12 linux-6.12 6.12.111-1~deb12u1 —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu Nvidia-BlueField 24.04 LTS linux-bluefield 6.8.0-1036.41 —
Ubuntu Nvidia-BlueField 22.04 LTS linux-bluefield 5.15.0-1103.105 —
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux 7.0.0-42.42 USN-8959-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-aws 7.0.0-1016.17 USN-8959-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-azure 7.0.0-1020.21 USN-9019-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-azure-fde 7.0.0-1019.19 USN-9020-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-gcp 7.0.0-1016.18 USN-8959-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-gke 7.0.0-1010.11 USN-9020-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-ibm +1 7.0.0-1017.17 USN-8960-1, USN-8959-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-nvidia +1 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-oracle 7.0.0-1015.16 USN-8959-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-raspi 7.0.0-1023.23 USN-9021-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-realtime 7.0.0-43.43.1 USN-9020-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-riscv 7.0.0-42.42.1 —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux 6.8.0-149.149 USN-9022-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-aws 6.8.0-1069.74 USN-9022-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-aws-7.0 7.0.0-1017.18~24.04.1 USN-9020-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure 6.8.0-1073.82 USN-9022-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure-fde 6.8.0-1071.78 USN-9039-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure-fde-7.0 7.0.0-1019.19~24.04.1 USN-9020-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gcp 6.8.0-1073.81 USN-9022-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gcp-7.0 7.0.0-1017.19~24.04.1 USN-9020-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gke 6.8.0-1068.77 USN-9022-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gkeop 6.8.0-1053.57 USN-9023-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-hwe-7.0 7.0.0-42.42~24.04.1 USN-8959-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-ibm 6.8.0-1069.70 USN-9022-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-lowlatency 6.8.0-149.149.1 USN-9022-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia 6.8.0-1067.70 USN-9024-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia-lowlatency 6.8.0-1067.70.1 USN-9040-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-oracle 6.8.0-1067.71 USN-9022-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-oracle-7.0 7.0.0-1016.18~24.04.1 USN-9020-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-raspi 6.8.0-1068.72 USN-9025-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-riscv +32 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-riscv-7.0 7.0.0-42.42.1~24.04.1 —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-vmware 6.8.0-1010.10 USN-9022-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux 5.15.0-202.212 USN-8961-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-aws 5.15.0-1119.126 USN-8961-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-aws-6.8 6.8.0-1069.74~22.04.1 USN-9024-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-azure 5.15.0-1125.134 USN-8961-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-azure-6.8 6.8.0-1073.82~22.04.1 USN-9026-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-azure-fde 5.15.0-1124.133 USN-8962-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-azure-fde-6.8 6.8.0-1071.78~22.04.1 USN-9026-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-gcp 5.15.0-1120.130 USN-8961-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-gcp-6.8 6.8.0-1073.81~22.04.1 USN-9024-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-gke 5.15.0-1115.121 USN-8961-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-gkeop 5.15.0-1102.110 USN-8961-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-hwe-6.8 6.8.0-149.149~22.04.1 USN-9066-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-ibm 5.15.0-1113.117 USN-8961-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-ibm-6.8 6.8.0-1069.70~22.04.1 USN-9024-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-intel-iotg 5.15.0-1114.120 USN-8961-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-kvm 5.15.0-1111.116 USN-8961-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-lowlatency 5.15.0-197.207 USN-8961-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 6.8.0-149.149.1~22.04.1 USN-9024-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-nvidia 5.15.0-1114.115 USN-8961-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-nvidia-tegra 5.15.0-1070.72 USN-8963-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-nvidia-tegra-igx 5.15.0-1059.59 USN-8963-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-oracle 5.15.0-1116.122 USN-8961-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-oracle-6.8 6.8.0-1067.71~22.04.1 USN-9025-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-raspi 5.15.0-1113.116 USN-9029-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-riscv +34 No fix yet —
Show 18 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-gke +28 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-gcp +14 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS linux-hwe-edge No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-raspi-realtime 6.8.0-2056.58 USN-9025-1
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-realtime 6.8.1-1064.65 USN-9023-1
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-realtime-6.14 +1 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 22.04 LTS linux-intel-iot-realtime 5.15.0-1111.115 USN-8961-1
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 22.04 LTS linux-realtime 5.15.0-1118.127 USN-8961-1
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 22.04 LTS linux-realtime-6.8 6.8.1-1064.65~22.04.1 USN-9024-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS 20.04 LTS linux-fips +3 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro FIPS 18.04 LTS linux-fips +3 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro FIPS 16.04 LTS linux-fips No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-aws-fips 6.8.0-1069.74+fips1 USN-9023-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-azure-fips 6.8.0-1073.82+fips1 USN-9022-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-fips No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-gcp-fips 6.8.0-1073.81+fips1 USN-9023-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 22.04 LTS linux-aws-fips 5.15.0-1119.126+fips1 USN-8961-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 22.04 LTS linux-azure-fips 5.15.0-1125.134+fips1 USN-8961-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 22.04 LTS linux-fips 5.15.0-202.212+fips1 USN-8961-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 22.04 LTS linux-gcp-fips 5.15.0-1120.130+fips1 USN-8961-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 20.04 LTS linux-fips +3 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 18.04 LTS linux-fips +3 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 16.04 LTS linux-fips No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-preview 22.04 LTS linux-fips +3 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux +10 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-aws-5.15 5.15.0-1119.126~20.04.1 USN-8961-1
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-azure-5.15 5.15.0-1125.134~20.04.1 USN-8961-1
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-azure-fde-5.15 5.15.0-1124.133~20.04.1 USN-8961-1
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-gcp-5.15 5.15.0-1120.130~20.04.1 USN-8961-1
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-hwe-5.15 5.15.0-202.212~20.04.1 USN-8961-1
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-ibm-5.15 5.15.0-1113.117~20.04.1 USN-8961-1
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-intel-iotg-5.15 5.15.0-1114.120~20.04.1 USN-8961-1
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15 5.15.0-197.207~20.04.1 USN-8961-1
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15 5.15.0-1070.72~20.04.1 USN-8963-1
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-oracle-5.15 5.15.0-1116.122~20.04.1 USN-8961-1
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-riscv-5.15 5.15.0-1113.117~20.04.2 —
Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS linux +12 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS linux +7 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 14.04 LTS linux +3 No fix yet —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
SLES 15 SP7 kernel-64kb +5 6.4.0-150700.53.87.3 SUSE-SU-2026:4935-1
SLES 15 SP7 kernel-default-base 6.4.0-150700.53.87.3.150700.17.49.2 SUSE-SU-2026:4935-1
SLES 15 SP7 kernel-obs-build 6.4.0-150700.53.87.2 SUSE-SU-2026:4935-1
SLES 15 SP7 kernel-syms 6.4.0-150700.53.87.1 SUSE-SU-2026:4935-1
SLES 12 SP5 kernel-syms +2 4.12.14-122.336.1 SUSE-SU-2026:4892-1
Show 8 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
SLES for SAP 16.0 kernel-64kb +8 6.12.0-160000.40.1 SUSE-SU-2026:24446-1
SLES for SAP 16.0 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.40.1.160000.2.29 SUSE-SU-2026:24446-1
SLES 16.0 kernel-64kb +8 6.12.0-160000.40.1 SUSE-SU-2026:24446-1, SUSE-SU-2026:24437-1
SLES 16.0 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.40.1.160000.2.29 SUSE-SU-2026:24446-1
SLE Micro 6.2 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.40.1.160000.2.29 SUSE-SU-2026:24422-1
SLE Micro 6.2 kernel-rt +5 6.12.0-160000.40.1 SUSE-SU-2026:24422-1, SUSE-SU-2026:24386-1
SLE Micro 6.1 kernel-default-base 6.4.0-159998.54.1.159998.21.39 SUSE-SU-2026:24379-1
SLE Micro 6.1 kernel-rt +4 6.4.0-159998.54.1 SUSE-SU-2026:24553-1, SUSE-SU-2026:24379-1
SLE Micro 6.0 kernel-default-base 6.4.0-159998.54.1.159998.21.40 SUSE-SU-2026:24371-1
SLE Micro 6.0 kernel-rt +4 6.4.0-159998.54.1 SUSE-SU-2026:24473-1, SUSE-SU-2026:24371-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP7 kernel-default 6.4.0-150700.53.87.3 SUSE-SU-2026:4935-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP7 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7-RT_Update_22 1-150700.1.3.1 SUSE-SU-2026:4940-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP7 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7_Update_23 1-150700.15.3.2 SUSE-SU-2026:4935-1
SLE Live Patching 12 SP5 kernel-default 4.12.14-122.336.1 SUSE-SU-2026:4892-1
SLE Live Patching 12 SP5 kgraft-patch-SLE12-SP5_Update_89 1-8.3.1 SUSE-SU-2026:4892-1
SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP7 kernel-rt +2 6.4.0-150700.7.81.1 SUSE-SU-2026:4940-1
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
openSUSE Leap 16.0 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.40.1.160000.2.29 openSUSE-SU-2026:22167-1
openSUSE Leap 16.0 kernel-rt +11 6.12.0-160000.40.1 openSUSE-SU-2026:22167-1

Amazon Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Amazon Linux 2023 kernel-livepatch-6.1.189-236.399 +2 1:1.0-0.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-3336, ALAS2023-2026-3193, ALAS2023-2026-3192
Amazon Linux 2023 perf +12 1:6.1.189-236.399.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-3336
Amazon Linux 2023 perf6.12 +11 1:6.12.111-136.204.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-3193
Amazon Linux 2023 perf6.18 +12 1:6.18.54-121.166.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-3192

Azure Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Azure Linux 3 kernel 6.6.158.1-1 —

Oracle Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Oracle Linux 9 kernel-uek +34 6.12.0-207.111.5.1.el10uek ELSA-2026-500374
Oracle Linux 8 bpftool +18 5.15.0-326.222.4.el9uek ELSA-2026-500574

Advisories 35

References