🛡️ CVE-2025-39738 — debian-linux

🟠 CVSS 7.3 — High ✅ No Known Exploit NVD
7.3
CVSS Score
0 Low4 Medium7 High9 Critical10

Description

btrfs: do not allow relocation of partially dropped subvolumes

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

btrfs: do not allow relocation of partially dropped subvolumes

[BUG]

There is an internal report that balance triggered transaction abort,

with the following call trace:

item 85 key (594509824 169 0) itemoff 12599 itemsize 33

extent refs 1 gen 197740 flags 2

ref#0: tree block backref root 7

item 86 key (594558976 169 0) itemoff 12566 itemsize 33

extent refs 1 gen 197522 flags 2

ref#0: tree block backref root 7

...

BTRFS error (device loop0): extent item not found for insert, bytenr 594526208 num_bytes 16384 parent 449921024 root_objectid 934 owner 1 offset 0

BTRFS error (device loop0): failed to run delayed ref for logical 594526208 num_bytes 16384 type 182 action 1 ref_mod 1: -117

------------[ cut here ]------------

BTRFS: Transaction aborted (error -117)

WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 6963 at ../fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c:2168 btrfs_run_delayed_refs+0xfa/0x110 [btrfs]

And btrfs check doesn't report anything wrong related to the extent

tree.

[CAUSE]

The cause is a little complex, firstly the extent tree indeed doesn't

have the backref for 594526208.

The extent tree only have the following two backrefs around that bytenr

on-disk:

item 65 key (594509824 METADATA_ITEM 0) itemoff 13880 itemsize 33

refs 1 gen 197740 flags TREE_BLOCK

tree block skinny level 0

(176 0x7) tree block backref root CSUM_TREE

item 66 key (594558976 METADATA_ITEM 0) itemoff 13847 itemsize 33

refs 1 gen 197522 flags TREE_BLOCK

tree block skinny level 0

(176 0x7) tree block backref root CSUM_TREE

But the such missing backref item is not an corruption on disk, as the

offending delayed ref belongs to subvolume 934, and that subvolume is

being dropped:

item 0 key (934 ROOT_ITEM 198229) itemoff 15844 itemsize 439

generation 198229 root_dirid 256 bytenr 10741039104 byte_limit 0 bytes_used 345571328

last_snapshot 198229 flags 0x1000000000001(RDONLY) refs 0

drop_progress key (206324 EXTENT_DATA 2711650304) drop_level 2

level 2 generation_v2 198229

And that offending tree block 594526208 is inside the dropped range of

that subvolume. That explains why there is no backref item for that

bytenr and why btrfs check is not reporting anything wrong.

But this also shows another problem, as btrfs will do all the orphan

subvolume cleanup at a read-write mount.

So half-dropped subvolume should not exist after an RW mount, and

balance itself is also exclusive to subvolume cleanup, meaning we

shouldn't hit a subvolume half-dropped during relocation.

The root cause is, there is no orphan item for this subvolume.

In fact there are 5 subvolumes from around 2021 that have the same

problem.

It looks like the original report has some older kernels running, and

caused those zombie subvolumes.

Thankfully upstream commit 8d488a8c7ba2 ("btrfs: fix subvolume/snapshot

deletion not triggered on mount") has long fixed the bug.

[ENHANCEMENT]

For repairing such old fs, btrfs-progs will be enhanced.

Considering how delayed the problem will show up (at run delayed ref

time) and at that time we have to abort transaction already, it is too

late.

Instead here we reject any half-dropped subvolume for reloc tree at the

earliest time, preventing confusion and extra time wasted on debugging

similar bugs.

How this vulnerability can be exploited

This issue can be reached with local access to the system, attack complexity is low, an attacker needs low-level privileges on the target. No user interaction is required. The scope is unchanged, so the impact stays within the vulnerable component. Rated impact: confidentiality low, integrity high, availability high.

Affected software

CVE-2025-39738 is recorded against 3 packages.

  • debian-linux
  • kernel (from 6.16.0 up to 6.16.2)
  • linux-kernel

Timeline and source

Published on 11 September 2025 and last revised on 30 July 2026. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. A vendor advisory or fix has been published. Record sourced from NVD.

References

git.kernel.org
git.kernel.org
git.kernel.org
git.kernel.org
git.kernel.org
git.kernel.org
git.kernel.org
lists.debian.org
cert-portal.siemens.com

CVE-2025-39738 on other distributions

Each distribution ships its own build and its own fixed version. Pick the one you run:

Details

Severity HIGH
CVSS Score 7.3
CVSS Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:H
CWE N/A
Public Exploit ✅ No
Source NVD
Published 2025-09-11
Updated 2026-08-12
Modified 2026-07-30

Affected Packages

Software From version Fixed in
debian-linux
kernel 6.16.0 6.16.2
linux-kernel

Similar Threats

Site Security Check

Is debian-linux part of your stack?

CVE-2025-39738 is rated CVSS 7.3 High. BotEraser scans your installation against known CVE records and tells you whether this vulnerability applies to the versions you actually run.

Scan My Site Free →

No credit card required  ·  Results in minutes

ⓘ Data Notice: The information presented above has been compiled from publicly available internet sources. Boteraser aggregates this data solely for informational purposes and does not independently classify, evaluate, or endorse any findings about the vulnerabilities listed. The accuracy and completeness of this information is the sole responsibility of the original publishers. Boteraser and its operators accept no liability for any decisions made based on this data.