CVE-2026-46160
btrfs: fix missing last_unlink_trans update when removing a directory
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: fix missing last_unlink_trans update when removing a directory When removing a directory we are not updating its last_unlink_trans field, which can result in incorrect fsync behaviour in case some one fsyncs the directory after it was removed because it's holding a file descriptor on it. Example scenario: mkdir /mnt/dir1 mkdir /mnt/dir1/dir2 mkdir /mnt/dir3 sync -f /mnt # Do some change to the directory and fsync it. chmod 700 /mnt/dir1 xfs_io -c fsync /mnt/dir1 # Move dir2 out of dir1 so that dir1 becomes empty. mv /mnt/dir1/dir2 /mnt/dir3/ open fd on /mnt/dir1 call rmdir(2) on path "/mnt/dir1" fsync fd <trigger power failure> When attempting to mount the filesystem, the log replay will fail with an -EIO error and dmesg/syslog has the following: [445771.626482] BTRFS info (device dm-0): first mount of filesystem 0368bbea-6c5e-44b5-b409-09abe496e650 [445771.626486] BTRFS info (device dm-0): using crc32c checksum algorithm [445771.627912] BTRFS info (device dm-0): start tree-log replay [445771.628335] page: refcount:2 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000061443ddc index:0x1d00 pfn:0x7072a5 [445771.629453] memcg:ffff89f400351b00 [445771.629892] aops:btree_aops [btrfs] ino:1 [445771.630737] flags: 0x17fffc00000402a(uptodate|lru|private|writeback|node=0|zone=2|lastcpupid=0x1ffff) [445771.632359] raw: 017fffc00000402a fffff47284d950c8 fffff472907b7c08 ffff89f458e412b8 [445771.633713] raw: 0000000000001d00 ffff89f6c51d1a90 00000002ffffffff ffff89f400351b00 [445771.635029] page dumped because: eb page dump [445771.635825] BTRFS critical (device dm-0): corrupt leaf: root=5 block=30408704 slot=10 ino=258, invalid nlink: has 2 expect no more than 1 for dir [445771.638088] BTRFS info (device dm-0): leaf 30408704 gen 10 total ptrs 17 free space 14878 owner 5 [445771.638091] BTRFS info (device dm-0): refs 4 lock_owner 0 current 3581087 [445771.638094] item 0 key (256 INODE_ITEM 0) itemoff 16123 itemsize 160 [445771.638097] inode generation 3 transid 9 size 16 nbytes 16384 [445771.638098] block group 0 mode 40755 links 1 uid 0 gid 0 [445771.638100] rdev 0 sequence 2 flags 0x0 [445771.638102] atime 1775744884.0 [445771.660056] ctime 1775744885.645502983 [445771.660058] mtime 1775744885.645502983 [445771.660060] otime 1775744884.0 [445771.660062] item 1 key (256 INODE_REF 256) itemoff 16111 itemsize 12 [445771.660064] index 0 name_len 2 [445771.660066] item 2 key (256 DIR_ITEM 1843588421) itemoff 16077 itemsize 34 [445771.660068] location key (259 1 0) type 2 [445771.660070] transid 9 data_len 0 name_len 4 [445771.660075] item 3 key (256 DIR_ITEM 2363071922) itemoff 16043 itemsize 34 [445771.660076] location key (257 1 0) type 2 [445771.660077] transid 9 data_len 0 name_len 4 [445771.660078] item 4 key (256 DIR_INDEX 2) itemoff 16009 itemsize 34 [445771.660079] location key (257 1 0) type 2 [445771.660080] transid 9 data_len 0 name_len 4 [445771.660081] item 5 key (256 DIR_INDEX 3) itemoff 15975 itemsize 34 [445771.660082] location key (259 1 0) type 2 [445771.660083] transid 9 data_len 0 name_len 4 [445771.660084] item 6 key (257 INODE_ITEM 0) itemoff 15815 itemsize 160 [445771.660086] inode generation 9 transid 9 size 8 nbytes 0 [445771.660087] block group 0 mode 40777 links 1 uid 0 gid 0 [445771.660088] rdev 0 sequence 2 flags 0x0 [445771.660089] atime 1775744885.641174097 [445771.660090] ctime 1775744885.645502983 [445771.660091] mtime 1775744885.645502983 [445771.660105] otime 1775744885.641174097 [445771.660106] item 7 key (257 INODE_REF 256) itemoff 15801 itemsize 14 [445771.660107] index 2 name_len 4 [445771.660108] item 8 key (257 DIR_ITEM 2676584006) itemoff 15767 itemsize 34 [445771.660109] location key (2 ---truncated---
INFO
Published Date :
May 28, 2026, 10:16 a.m.
Last Modified :
May 28, 2026, 10:16 a.m.
Remotely Exploit :
No
Source :
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Affected Products
The following products are affected by CVE-2026-46160
vulnerability.
Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the
products
that
are
affected, the information is not represented in the table below.
No affected product recoded yet
Solution
- Update the Linux kernel to the latest stable version.
- Apply the specific patch for the btrfs directory removal issue.
- Reboot the system after applying the kernel update.
- Verify filesystem integrity after reboot.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth
information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to
CVE-2026-46160.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-46160 is
associated with the following CWEs:
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification
(CAPEC)
stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and
approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-46160
weaknesses.
We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).
Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.
The following list is the news that have been mention
CVE-2026-46160 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-46160 vulnerability over time.
Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.
-
New CVE Received by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
May. 28, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: fix missing last_unlink_trans update when removing a directory When removing a directory we are not updating its last_unlink_trans field, which can result in incorrect fsync behaviour in case some one fsyncs the directory after it was removed because it's holding a file descriptor on it. Example scenario: mkdir /mnt/dir1 mkdir /mnt/dir1/dir2 mkdir /mnt/dir3 sync -f /mnt # Do some change to the directory and fsync it. chmod 700 /mnt/dir1 xfs_io -c fsync /mnt/dir1 # Move dir2 out of dir1 so that dir1 becomes empty. mv /mnt/dir1/dir2 /mnt/dir3/ open fd on /mnt/dir1 call rmdir(2) on path "/mnt/dir1" fsync fd <trigger power failure> When attempting to mount the filesystem, the log replay will fail with an -EIO error and dmesg/syslog has the following: [445771.626482] BTRFS info (device dm-0): first mount of filesystem 0368bbea-6c5e-44b5-b409-09abe496e650 [445771.626486] BTRFS info (device dm-0): using crc32c checksum algorithm [445771.627912] BTRFS info (device dm-0): start tree-log replay [445771.628335] page: refcount:2 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000061443ddc index:0x1d00 pfn:0x7072a5 [445771.629453] memcg:ffff89f400351b00 [445771.629892] aops:btree_aops [btrfs] ino:1 [445771.630737] flags: 0x17fffc00000402a(uptodate|lru|private|writeback|node=0|zone=2|lastcpupid=0x1ffff) [445771.632359] raw: 017fffc00000402a fffff47284d950c8 fffff472907b7c08 ffff89f458e412b8 [445771.633713] raw: 0000000000001d00 ffff89f6c51d1a90 00000002ffffffff ffff89f400351b00 [445771.635029] page dumped because: eb page dump [445771.635825] BTRFS critical (device dm-0): corrupt leaf: root=5 block=30408704 slot=10 ino=258, invalid nlink: has 2 expect no more than 1 for dir [445771.638088] BTRFS info (device dm-0): leaf 30408704 gen 10 total ptrs 17 free space 14878 owner 5 [445771.638091] BTRFS info (device dm-0): refs 4 lock_owner 0 current 3581087 [445771.638094] item 0 key (256 INODE_ITEM 0) itemoff 16123 itemsize 160 [445771.638097] inode generation 3 transid 9 size 16 nbytes 16384 [445771.638098] block group 0 mode 40755 links 1 uid 0 gid 0 [445771.638100] rdev 0 sequence 2 flags 0x0 [445771.638102] atime 1775744884.0 [445771.660056] ctime 1775744885.645502983 [445771.660058] mtime 1775744885.645502983 [445771.660060] otime 1775744884.0 [445771.660062] item 1 key (256 INODE_REF 256) itemoff 16111 itemsize 12 [445771.660064] index 0 name_len 2 [445771.660066] item 2 key (256 DIR_ITEM 1843588421) itemoff 16077 itemsize 34 [445771.660068] location key (259 1 0) type 2 [445771.660070] transid 9 data_len 0 name_len 4 [445771.660075] item 3 key (256 DIR_ITEM 2363071922) itemoff 16043 itemsize 34 [445771.660076] location key (257 1 0) type 2 [445771.660077] transid 9 data_len 0 name_len 4 [445771.660078] item 4 key (256 DIR_INDEX 2) itemoff 16009 itemsize 34 [445771.660079] location key (257 1 0) type 2 [445771.660080] transid 9 data_len 0 name_len 4 [445771.660081] item 5 key (256 DIR_INDEX 3) itemoff 15975 itemsize 34 [445771.660082] location key (259 1 0) type 2 [445771.660083] transid 9 data_len 0 name_len 4 [445771.660084] item 6 key (257 INODE_ITEM 0) itemoff 15815 itemsize 160 [445771.660086] inode generation 9 transid 9 size 8 nbytes 0 [445771.660087] block group 0 mode 40777 links 1 uid 0 gid 0 [445771.660088] rdev 0 sequence 2 flags 0x0 [445771.660089] atime 1775744885.641174097 [445771.660090] ctime 1775744885.645502983 [445771.660091] mtime 1775744885.645502983 [445771.660105] otime 1775744885.641174097 [445771.660106] item 7 key (257 INODE_REF 256) itemoff 15801 itemsize 14 [445771.660107] index 2 name_len 4 [445771.660108] item 8 key (257 DIR_ITEM 2676584006) itemoff 15767 itemsize 34 [445771.660109] location key (2 ---truncated--- Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/36fcc2c7517f8a86379154c9793f867592aa8b7e Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/999757231c49376cd1a37308d2c8c4c9932571e1 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/aa9c3ecaf7337df3a689318584f879b5339ede0f Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cc3c0a0f965754ce230d93ba44ee5b34fbe6138a Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fb388eb58c1ba047ccabc33901839acfecadcf49