Cloudanix VulnDB

CVE-2022-48920

None

CVSS

—

EPSS

0.2%

Published

Aug 22, 2024

CISA due date

—

Cloudanix analysis

Monitor only SSVC: Track

A Linux storage feature can generate repeated unnecessary warning messages that fill up system logs.

Exploitation
Other
Attacker needs
None
Complexity
Theoretical
Impact
Other
Component
OS kernel
Class
Other
Remediation
Upgrade
Effort
Medium
Patch risk
Low

What it actually does

Triggers a spurious kernel WARN_ON in __writeback_inodes_sb_nr during btrfs transaction commit when flushoncommit is enabled, because writeback_inodes_sb is invoked without holding sb->s_umount for reading.

Why it matters to the business

Produces frequent warning spam in dmesg and syslog on btrfs volumes using the flushoncommit option, increasing log noise and potentially obscuring genuine problems; the issue affects many stable Linux kernel releases still in widespread use.

How an attack unfolds

No attacker exploitation is possible; the reported condition is a locking-order diagnostic warning introduced by an earlier btrfs change that switched to writeback_inodes_sb for deadlock avoidance with filesystem freeze. The fix replaces the call with the non-blocking try_to_writeback_inodes_sb variant.

How to fix it

Upgrade the Linux kernel to a version containing commit 850a77c999b81dd2724efd2684068d6f90db8c16 (or the equivalent backport) so that btrfs_commit_transaction uses try_to_writeback_inodes_sb instead of writeback_inodes_sb when flushoncommit is active.

How to confirm the fix worked

Boot the patched kernel, mount a btrfs filesystem with -o flushoncommit, perform filesystem activity that triggers transaction commits, and confirm the __writeback_inodes_sb_nr warning no longer appears in the kernel log.

How to detect it

Search kernel logs (dmesg, syslog, journalctl) for the exact warning string produced by __writeback_inodes_sb_nr during btrfs transaction commits; also look for the btrfs-transacti kthread as the calling process.

  • WARNING: CPU: .* at fs/fs-writeback.c:2610 __writeback_inodes_sb_nr
  • btrfs_commit_transaction+0x1f1/0x998
  • btrfs-transacti

What your security team should do

  • Prioritize kernel updates on any systems running btrfs with the flushoncommit mount option
  • After patching, monitor dmesg for the specific writeback warning string to verify resolution
  • If immediate patching is delayed, consider temporarily disabling flushoncommit where operationally acceptable

The record

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: get rid of warning on transaction commit when using flushoncommit When using the flushoncommit mount option, during almost every transaction commit we trigger a warning from __writeback_inodes_sb_nr(): $ cat fs/fs-writeback.c: (...) static void __writeback_inodes_sb_nr(struct super_block *sb, ... { (...) WARN_ON(!rwsem_is_locked(&sb->s_umount)); (...) } (...) The trace produced in dmesg looks like the following: [947.473890] WARNING: CPU: 5 PID: 930 at fs/fs-writeback.c:2610 __writeback_inodes_sb_nr+0x7e/0xb3 [947.481623] Modules linked in: nfsd nls_cp437 cifs asn1_decoder cifs_arc4 fscache cifs_md4 ipmi_ssif [947.489571] CPU: 5 PID: 930 Comm: btrfs-transacti Not tainted 95.16.3-srb-asrock-00001-g36437ad63879 #186 [947.497969] RIP: 0010:__writeback_inodes_sb_nr+0x7e/0xb3 [947.502097] Code: 24 10 4c 89 44 24 18 c6 (...) [947.519760] RSP: 0018:ffffc90000777e10 EFLAGS: 00010246 [947.523818] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000000963300 RCX: 0000000000000000 [947.529765] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 000000000000fa51 RDI: ffffc90000777e50 [947.535740] RBP: ffff888101628a90 R08: ffff888100955800 R09: ffff888100956000 [947.541701] R10: 0000000000000002 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: ffff888100963488 [947.547645] R13: ffff888100963000 R14: ffff888112fb7200 R15: ffff888100963460 [947.553621] FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff88841fd40000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [947.560537] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [947.565122] CR2: 0000000008be50c4 CR3: 000000000220c000 CR4: 00000000001006e0 [947.571072] Call Trace: [947.572354] <TASK> [947.573266] btrfs_commit_transaction+0x1f1/0x998 [947.576785] ? start_transaction+0x3ab/0x44e [947.579867] ? schedule_timeout+0x8a/0xdd [947.582716] transaction_kthread+0xe9/0x156 [947.585721] ? btrfs_cleanup_transaction.isra.0+0x407/0x407 [947.590104] kthread+0x131/0x139 [947.592168] ? set_kthread_struct+0x32/0x32 [947.595174] ret_from_fork+0x22/0x30 [947.597561] </TASK> [947.598553] ---[ end trace 644721052755541c ]--- This is because we started using writeback_inodes_sb() to flush delalloc when committing a transaction (when using -o flushoncommit), in order to avoid deadlocks with filesystem freeze operations. This change was made by commit ce8ea7cc6eb313 ("btrfs: don't call btrfs_start_delalloc_roots in flushoncommit"). After that change we started producing that warning, and every now and then a user reports this since the warning happens too often, it spams dmesg/syslog, and a user is unsure if this reflects any problem that might compromise the filesystem's reliability. We can not just lock the sb->s_umount semaphore before calling writeback_inodes_sb(), because that would at least deadlock with filesystem freezing, since at fs/super.c:freeze_super() sync_filesystem() is called while we are holding that semaphore in write mode, and that can trigger a transaction commit, resulting in a deadlock. It would also trigger the same type of deadlock in the unmount path. Possibly, it could also introduce some other locking dependencies that lockdep would report. To fix this call try_to_writeback_inodes_sb() instead of writeback_inodes_sb(), because that will try to read lock sb->s_umount and then will only call writeback_inodes_sb() if it was able to lock it. This is fine because the cases where it can't read lock sb->s_umount are during a filesystem unmount or during a filesystem freeze - in those cases sb->s_umount is write locked and sync_filesystem() is called, which calls writeback_inodes_sb(). In other words, in all cases where we can't take a read lock on sb->s_umount, writeback is already being triggered elsewhere. An alternative would be to call btrfs_start_delalloc_roots() with a number of pages different from LONG_MAX, for example matching the number of delalloc bytes we currently have, in ---truncated---

Affected packages

Ecosystem Package Introduced Fixed
Debian:11 linux 0 No fix
Debian:12 linux 0 5.16.14-1
Debian:13 linux 0 5.16.14-1
Linux Kernel 0 5.15.27
Linux Kernel 4.15.0 5.15.27
SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 12 SP5 kernel-default 0 4.12.14-122.228.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP5 kernel-default 0 5.14.21-150500.55.80.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 12 SP5 kernel-default 0 4.12.14-122.228.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 12 SP5 kgraft-patch-SLE12-SP5_Update_60 0 1-8.3.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP5 kernel-default 0 5.14.21-150500.55.80.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP5 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP5-RT_Update_19 0 1-150500.11.3.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP5 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP5_Update_19 0 1-150500.11.3.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 kernel-default 0 5.14.21-150500.55.80.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 kernel-default-base 0 5.14.21-150500.55.80.2.150500.6.35.6
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 kernel-rt 0 5.14.21-150500.13.67.3
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 kernel-source-rt 0 5.14.21-150500.13.67.3
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5 kernel-64kb 0 5.14.21-150500.55.80.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5 kernel-default 0 5.14.21-150500.55.80.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5 kernel-default-base 0 5.14.21-150500.55.80.2.150500.6.35.6
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5 kernel-source 0 5.14.21-150500.55.80.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5 kernel-zfcpdump 0 5.14.21-150500.55.80.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP5 kernel-docs 0 5.14.21-150500.55.80.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP5 kernel-obs-build 0 5.14.21-150500.55.80.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP5 kernel-source 0 5.14.21-150500.55.80.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP5 kernel-syms 0 5.14.21-150500.55.80.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Legacy 15 SP5 kernel-default 0 5.14.21-150500.55.80.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP5 kernel-azure 0 5.14.21-150500.33.66.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP5 kernel-source-azure 0 5.14.21-150500.33.66.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP5 kernel-syms-azure 0 5.14.21-150500.33.66.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Real Time 12 SP5 kernel-rt 0 4.12.14-10.200.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Real Time 12 SP5 kernel-rt_debug 0 4.12.14-10.200.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Real Time 12 SP5 kernel-source-rt 0 4.12.14-10.200.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Real Time 12 SP5 kernel-syms-rt 0 4.12.14-10.200.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5 kernel-azure 0 4.12.14-16.197.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5 kernel-default 0 4.12.14-122.228.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5 kernel-source 0 4.12.14-122.228.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5 kernel-source-azure 0 4.12.14-16.197.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5 kernel-syms 0 4.12.14-122.228.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5 kernel-syms-azure 0 4.12.14-16.197.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP5 kernel-azure 0 4.12.14-16.197.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP5 kernel-default 0 4.12.14-122.228.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP5 kernel-source 0 4.12.14-122.228.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP5 kernel-source-azure 0 4.12.14-16.197.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP5 kernel-syms 0 4.12.14-122.228.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP5 kernel-syms-azure 0 4.12.14-16.197.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12 SP5 kernel-docs 0 4.12.14-122.228.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12 SP5 kernel-obs-build 0 4.12.14-122.228.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 12 SP5 kernel-default 0 4.12.14-122.228.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP5 kernel-default 0 5.14.21-150500.55.80.2
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP5 kernel-rt 0 5.14.21-150500.13.67.3
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP5 kernel-rt_debug 0 5.14.21-150500.13.67.3
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP5 kernel-source-rt 0 5.14.21-150500.13.67.3
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP5 kernel-syms-rt 0 5.14.21-150500.13.67.1
Ubuntu:14.04:LTS linux 0 3.11.0-12.19
Ubuntu:14.04:LTS linux-aws 0 4.4.0-1002.2
Ubuntu:14.04:LTS linux-lts-xenial 0 4.4.0-13.29~14.04.1
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS linux 0 4.4.0-2.16
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS linux-aws 0 4.4.0-1001.10
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS linux-hwe-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS linux-kvm 0 4.4.0-1004.9
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-aws-5.0 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-aws-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gke-4.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gke-5.4 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gkeop-5.4 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-hwe 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-hwe-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oem 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.0 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.15 0 5.15.0-1014.18~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.15 0 5.15.0-1007.8~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-fde 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-fde-5.15 0 5.15.0-1019.24~20.04.1.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-bluefield 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.15 0 5.15.0-1006.9~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gke 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gke-5.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gkeop 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gkeop-5.15 0 5.15.0-1003.5~20.04.2
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.15 0 5.15.0-33.34~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-ibm 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-ibm-5.15 0 5.15.0-1033.36~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-intel-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-intel-iotg-5.15 0 5.15.0-1008.11~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-iot 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-kvm 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15 0 5.15.0-33.34~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.10 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.14 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.6 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.15 0 5.15.0-1007.9~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-raspi 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-raspi2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.15 0 5.15.0-1015.17~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-xilinx-zynqmp 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux 0 5.15.0-23.23
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-allwinner-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws 0 5.15.0-1003.5
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-6.8 0 6.8.0-1009.9~22.04.2
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure 0 5.15.0-1002.3
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-6.8 0 6.8.0-1008.8~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fde 0 5.15.0-1019.24.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fde-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fde-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 5.15.0-1003.6
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-6.8 0 6.8.0-1010.11~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gke 0 5.15.0-1002.2
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gkeop 0 5.15.0-1001.2
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-6.8 0 6.8.0-38.38~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-ibm 0 5.15.0-1002.2
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-intel-iot-realtime 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-intel-iot-realtime 0 5.15.0-1021.26
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-intel-iotg 0 5.15.0-1004.6
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-kvm 0 5.15.0-1004.4
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency 0 5.15.0-23.23
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 0 6.8.0-38.38.1~22.04.2
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia 0 5.15.0-1005.5
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.5 0 6.5.0-1004.4
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.8 0 6.8.0-1008.8~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oem-5.17 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oem-6.0 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oem-6.1 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oem-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 5.15.0-1002.4
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oracle-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oracle-6.8 0 6.8.0-1006.6~22.04.3
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-raspi 0 5.15.0-1004.4
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-realtime 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-riscv 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-riscv-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-riscv-6.8 0 6.8.0-38.38.1~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-starfive-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-starfive-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-starfive-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-xilinx-zynqmp 0 5.15.0-1022.26
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS:for:NVIDIA:BlueField linux-bluefield 0 5.15.0-1011.13
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux 0 6.5.0-9.9
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-aws 0 6.5.0-1008.8
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-azure 0 6.5.0-1007.7
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 6.5.0-1007.7
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gke 0 6.8.0-1003.5
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gkeop 0 6.8.0-1001.3
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-ibm 0 6.5.0-1009.9
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-lowlatency 0 6.5.0-9.9.1
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-nvidia 0 6.8.0-1007.7
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-nvidia-lowlatency 0 6.8.0-1009.9.1
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-oem-6.11 0 6.11.0-1007.7
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-oem-6.8 0 6.8.0-1003.3
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 6.5.0-1010.10
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-raspi 0 6.5.0-1005.7
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-raspi-realtime 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-raspi-realtime 0 6.7.0-2001.1
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-realtime 0 6.8.0-1008.19

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