# CVE-2026-43299: btrfs: do not ASSERT() when the fs flips RO inside btrfs_repair_io_failure() CVE-2026-43299 is fixed in 16 products on 1 platform, first by DEBIAN-CVE-2026-43299, released May 15, 2026. It is not reported as exploited. Patch Radar priority: Routine. - Web page: https://patchblox.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-43299 - Priority: Routine - CVSS: 5.5 (Moderate) - EPSS: 0.0013 - CISA KEV: not listed - Exploited (vendor report): no - Publicly disclosed: no - Published: May 8, 2026 - Vendor advisory: https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-43299 ## Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: do not ASSERT() when the fs flips RO inside btrfs_repair_io_failure() [BUG] There is a bug report that when btrfs hits ENOSPC error in a critical path, btrfs flips RO (this part is expected, although the ENOSPC bug still needs to be addressed). The problem is after the RO flip, if there is a read repair pending, we can hit the ASSERT() inside btrfs_repair_io_failure() like the following: BTRFS info (device vdc): relocating block group 30408704 flags metadata|raid1 ------------[ cut here ]------------ BTRFS: Transaction aborted (error -28) WARNING: fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c:3235 at __btrfs_free_extent.isra.0+0x453/0xfd0, CPU#1: btrfs/383844 Modules linked in: kvm_intel kvm irqbypass [...] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- BTRFS info (device vdc state EA): 2 enospc errors during balance BTRFS info (device vdc state EA): balance: ended with status: -30 BTRFS error (device vdc state EA): parent transid verify failed on logical 30556160 mirror 2 wanted 8 found 6 BTRFS error (device vdc state EA): bdev /dev/nvme0n1 errs: wr 0, rd 0, flush 0, corrupt 10, gen 0 [...] assertion failed: !(fs_info->sb->s_flags & SB_RDONLY) :: 0, in fs/btrfs/bio.c:938 ------------[ cut here ]------------ assertion failed: !(fs_info->sb->s_flags & SB_RDONLY) :: 0, in fs/btrfs/bio.c:938 kernel BUG at fs/btrfs/bio.c:938! Oops: invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 868 Comm: kworker/u8:13 Tainted: G W N 6.19.0-rc6+ #4788 PREEMPT(full) Tainted: [W]=WARN, [N]=TEST Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS rel-1.17.0-0-gb52ca86e094d-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 Workqueue: btrfs-endio simple_end_io_work RIP: 0010:btrfs_repair_io_failure.cold+0xb2/0x120 RSP: 0000:ffffc90001d2bcf0 EFLAGS: 00010246 RAX: 0000000000000051 RBX: 0000000000001000 RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: ffffffff8305cf42 RDI: 00000000ffffffff RBP: 0000000000000002 R08: 00000000fffeffff R09: ffffffff837fa988 R10: ffffffff8327a9e0 R11: 6f69747265737361 R12: ffff88813018d310 R13: ffff888168b8a000 R14: ffffc90001d2bd90 R15: ffff88810a169000 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8885e752c000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 ------------[ cut here ]------------ [CAUSE] The cause of -ENOSPC error during the test case btrfs/124 is still unknown, although it's known that we still have cases where metadata can be over-committed but can not be fulfilled correctly, thus if we hit such ENOSPC error inside a critical path, we have no choice but abort the current transaction. This will mark the fs read-only. The problem is inside the btrfs_repair_io_failure() path that we require the fs not to be mount read-only. This is normally fine, but if we are doing a read-repair meanwhile the fs flips RO due to a critical error, we can enter btrfs_repair_io_failure() with super block set to read-only, thus triggering the above crash. [FIX] Just replace the ASSERT() with a proper return if the fs is already read-only. ## Where it's fixed | Platform | Product | Fixed in | Fix | Released | |---|---|---|---|---| | Linux | dtb-aarch64 opensuse-leap 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | [OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/opensuse-su-2026-21910-1.md) | Sep 22, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-64kb opensuse-leap 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | [OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/opensuse-su-2026-21910-1.md) | Sep 22, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-64kb sles 15.7 | 6.4.0-150700.53.87.3 | [SUSE-SU-2026:4935-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/suse-su-2026-4935-1.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-64kb sles 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | [SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/suse-su-2026-23902-1.md) | Sep 22, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-azure opensuse-leap 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | [OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/opensuse-su-2026-21910-1.md) | Sep 22, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-azure sles 15.7 | 6.4.0-150700.53.87.3 | [SUSE-SU-2026:4935-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/suse-su-2026-4935-1.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-azure sles 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | [SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/suse-su-2026-23902-1.md) | Sep 22, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-default opensuse-leap 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | [OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/opensuse-su-2026-21910-1.md) | Sep 22, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-default sles 15.7 | 6.4.0-150700.53.87.3 | [SUSE-SU-2026:4935-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/suse-su-2026-4935-1.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-default sles 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | [SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/suse-su-2026-23902-1.md) | Sep 22, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-default-base opensuse-leap 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1.160000.2.22 | [OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/opensuse-su-2026-21910-1.md) | Sep 22, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-default-base sles 15.7 | 6.4.0-150700.53.87.3.150700.17.49.2 | [SUSE-SU-2026:4935-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/suse-su-2026-4935-1.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-default-base sles 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1.160000.2.23 | [SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/suse-su-2026-23902-1.md) | Sep 22, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-docs opensuse-leap 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | [OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/opensuse-su-2026-21910-1.md) | Sep 22, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-docs sles 15.7 | 6.4.0-150700.53.87.3 | [SUSE-SU-2026:4935-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/suse-su-2026-4935-1.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-docs sles 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | [SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/suse-su-2026-23902-1.md) | Sep 22, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-kvmsmall opensuse-leap 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | [OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/opensuse-su-2026-21910-1.md) | Sep 22, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-kvmsmall sles 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | [SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/suse-su-2026-23902-1.md) | Sep 22, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7-RT_Update_22 sles 15.7 | 1-150700.1.3.1 | [SUSE-SU-2026:4940-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/suse-su-2026-4940-1.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7_Update_23 sles 15.7 | 1-150700.15.3.2 | [SUSE-SU-2026:4935-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/suse-su-2026-4935-1.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-obs-build opensuse-leap 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | [OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/opensuse-su-2026-21910-1.md) | Sep 22, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-obs-build sles 15.7 | 6.4.0-150700.53.87.2 | [SUSE-SU-2026:4935-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/suse-su-2026-4935-1.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-obs-qa opensuse-leap 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | [OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/opensuse-su-2026-21910-1.md) | Sep 22, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-obs-qa sles 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | [SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/suse-su-2026-23902-1.md) | Sep 22, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-rt opensuse-leap 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | [OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/opensuse-su-2026-21910-1.md) | Sep 22, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-source opensuse-leap 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | [OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/opensuse-su-2026-21910-1.md) | Sep 22, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-source sles 15.7 | 6.4.0-150700.53.87.3 | [SUSE-SU-2026:4935-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/suse-su-2026-4935-1.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-source sles 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | [SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/suse-su-2026-23902-1.md) | Sep 22, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-syms opensuse-leap 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | [OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/opensuse-su-2026-21910-1.md) | Sep 22, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-syms sles 15.7 | 6.4.0-150700.53.87.1 | [SUSE-SU-2026:4935-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/suse-su-2026-4935-1.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-syms sles 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | [SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/suse-su-2026-23902-1.md) | Sep 22, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-zfcpdump opensuse-leap 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | [OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21910-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/opensuse-su-2026-21910-1.md) | Sep 22, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-zfcpdump sles 15.7 | 6.4.0-150700.53.87.3 | [SUSE-SU-2026:4935-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/suse-su-2026-4935-1.md) | Nov 7, 2026 | | Linux | kernel-zfcpdump sles 16.0 | 6.12.0-160000.38.1 | [SUSE-SU-2026:23902-1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/suse-su-2026-23902-1.md) | Sep 22, 2026 | | Linux | linux Debian 13.5 (trixie) | 6.12.115-2 | [DEBIAN-CVE-2026-43299](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/debian-cve-2026-43299.md) | May 15, 2026 | | Linux | linux Debian 14 | 6.19.6-1 | [DEBIAN-CVE-2026-43299](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/debian-cve-2026-43299.md) | May 15, 2026 | --- Data as of 2026-11-08T06:59:42Z UTC. 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