CVE-2026-90261btrfs: zoned: flush active metadata block group at btree_writepages() start
- —Not scoredno CVSS score yet
- 0.21%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 89% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- NonePublic exploitsnone known yet
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: zoned: flush active metadata block group at btree_writepages() start btree_writepages() writes the btree inode's dirty metadata in ascending logical address order. On a zoned filesystem only one metadata and one system block group is active for writing at a time, and check_bg_is_active() (via btrfs_check_meta_write_pointer()) pivots the active block group as writeback moves from one block group to the next. If the active block group sits at a higher logical address than another block group that also holds dirty metadata, the ascending walk reaches the lower one first and, to write it, has to finish the active block group and activate the lower one. It cannot finish a block group that still has unsent IO, and during WB_SYNC_ALL && !for_sync (commit) writeback it deliberately refuses to wait for that IO under fs_info->zoned_meta_io_lock, as that can deadlock. The pivot thus cannot issue the submission itself either, so it gives up: btrfs_check_meta_write_pointer() returns -EAGAIN, which btrfs_write_and_wait_transaction() treats as fatal and aborts the transaction, forcing the filesystem read-only. This happens intermittently under metadata-heavy relocation (e.g. fstests btrfs/187). Flush the active metadata and system block groups at the start of btree_writepages(), under the fs_info->zoned_meta_io_lock it already holds, so they have no unsent IO left and the later pivot can finish them and make forward progress.
Timeline
ID reserved
By Linux
- 6 days later
· 6 days later
Published
- 32 days later
· 32 days later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
No CVSS score yet: neither the CNA, CISA nor NVD has scored this CVE. NVD status: Received.
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.21% · top 89% of all CVEs (14 Nov 2026)
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Not scored.
Affected products
- affected 13bb483d32abb6f8ebd40141d87eb68f11cc2dd2 – < 58b0ab0340ce04a057169d42cbacbf786063813d
- affected 13bb483d32abb6f8ebd40141d87eb68f11cc2dd2 – < e2de2989adb3e58c2320e57c255f52e065667b5e
- affected 13bb483d32abb6f8ebd40141d87eb68f11cc2dd2 – < ecc05eda9a346848ae01a6c8bfa3f0bec133bd8b
- affected fca3a1cd3ba47f1815e0c0fcdc9aafaf02ee0a75
- affected 6.5.5 – < 6.6
- affected 6.6
- unaffected < 6.6
- unaffected 6.18.57 – ≤ 6.18.*
- unaffected 7.2.6 – ≤ 7.2.*
- unaffected 7.3 – ≤ *
References
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2026-81854 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2026-90261)Record last updated .