CVE-2026-68132

super: fix emergency thaw deadlock on frozen block devices

N/A
Published: August 10, 2026 at 11:58 AM UTC
Updated: August 23, 2026 at 01:17 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

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Severity
N/A
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.2%

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: super: fix emergency thaw deadlock on frozen block devices do_thaw_all_callback() calls bdev_thaw() while holding sb->s_umount exclusively. If the block device was frozen via bdev_freeze() dropping the last block layer freeze reference calls fs_bdev_thaw() which reacquires s_umount: do_thaw_all_callback(sb) super_lock_excl(sb) # holds sb->s_umount bdev_thaw(sb->s_bdev) mutex_lock(&bdev->bd_fsfreeze_mutex) # bd_fsfreeze_count drops 1 -> 0 bd_holder_ops->thaw == fs_bdev_thaw get_bdev_super(bdev) bdev_super_lock(bdev, true) super_lock(sb, true) down_write(&sb->s_umount) # same task: deadlock The emergency thaw worker deadlocks against itself holding both s_umount and bd_fsfreeze_mutex. That fscks any subsequent unmount, freeze, or thaw of that filesystem and block device. [ 81.878470] sysrq: Show Blocked State [ 81.880140] task:kworker/0:1 state:D stack:0 pid:11 tgid:11 ppid:2 task_flags:0x4208060 flags:0x00080000 [ 81.884876] Workqueue: events do_thaw_all [ 81.886656] Call Trace: [ 81.887759] <TASK> [ 81.888763] __schedule+0x579/0x1420 [ 81.890372] schedule+0x3a/0x100 [ 81.891794] schedule_preempt_disabled+0x15/0x30 [ 81.893848] rwsem_down_write_slowpath+0x1ea/0x900 [ 81.895191] ? __pfx_do_thaw_all_callback+0x10/0x10 [ 81.896528] down_write+0xbd/0xc0 [ 81.897505] super_lock+0x91/0x180 [ 81.898457] ? __mutex_lock+0xa99/0x1140 [ 81.900748] ? __mutex_unlock_slowpath+0x1f/0x400 [ 81.902069] bdev_super_lock+0x5b/0x150 [ 81.903132] get_bdev_super+0x10/0x60 [ 81.904042] fs_bdev_thaw+0x23/0xf0 [ 81.904755] bdev_thaw+0x82/0x100 [ 81.905484] do_thaw_all_callback+0x2c/0x50 [ 81.906298] __iterate_supers+0x5d/0x130 [ 81.907067] do_thaw_all+0x20/0x40 [ 81.907739] process_one_work+0x206/0x5e0 [ 81.908545] worker_thread+0x1e2/0x3c0 [ 81.909339] ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 [ 81.910171] kthread+0xf4/0x130 [ 81.910799] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [ 81.911528] ret_from_fork+0x2e2/0x3b0 [ 81.912259] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [ 81.913010] ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 [ 81.913806] </TASK> bdev_super_lock() even documents the violated requirement with lockdep_assert_not_held(&sb->s_umount). Acquiring bd_fsfreeze_mutex under s_umount also inverts the bd_fsfreeze_mutex vs. s_umount ordering established by bdev_{freeze,thaw}() and can thus ABBA against a concurrent block-layer freeze even when the recursive path isn't hit. Fix this by not holding s_umount around the bdev_thaw() loop at all. Pin the superblock with an active reference instead as filesystems_freeze_callback() does. The active reference keeps the superblock from being shut down and so ->s_bdev stays valid without holding s_umount. The block-layer-held freeze is dropped by fs_bdev_thaw() with FREEZE_MAY_NEST | FREEZE_HOLDER_USERSPACE exactly as a regular unfreeze would and thaw_super_locked() handles filesystem-level freezes as before. The emergency thaw path has deadlocked like this in one form or another for a long long time but the current exclusively-held shape dates back to commit [1] where thaw_bdev() already ended in thaw_super() with s_umount held by do_thaw_all_callback().

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

4.17 ≤ v < 5.10.2664.17 ≤ v < 5.15.2174.17 ≤ v < 6.1.1844.17 ≤ v < 6.12.1054.17 ≤ v < 6.18.424.17 ≤ v < 6.6.1534.17 ≤ v < 7.1.64.17 ≤ v < 7.24.178fdc8a138afaf324296a342f32ad26ec465e43
Vendor states this is fixed in 05536cad35f27b520d4b6f0e57c8cc5bfb6b0502 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 2a1127c1c58b4f15a93f2fd56ff7c2c3d611d5c5 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 4c483644d1a7709efe7d1be7dbf88cf4008a7864 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 63d78b546eefc38ad9898dc839bfc94811ede547 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 749d7aa0377aae32af8c0a4ad43371e7bf830ab5 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 96248aeddde794227a49af1a332a1e21b3c15d56 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 99719b5da9320ed344daee87d9c73d321a98f252 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in c202aa03388fd1889b7aa4f7d677c49e22cd9700 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 4.17 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.10.266 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.15.217 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.1.184 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.12.105 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.18.42 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.6.153 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.1.6 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.2 (unaffected)

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet, and no fixed version or vendor advisory is recorded against it.

Quick Info

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