linux — security advisory
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: fix race between balance and cancel/pause Syzbot reported a panic that looks like this: assertion failed: fs_info->exclusive_operation == BTRFS_EXCLOP_BALANCE_PAUSED, in fs/btrfs/ioctl.c:465 ------------[ cut here ]------------ kernel BUG at fs/btrfs/messages.c:259! RIP: 0010:btrfs_assertfail+0x2c/0x30 fs/btrfs/messages.c:259 Call Trace: btrfs_exclop_balance fs/btrfs/ioctl.c:465 [inline] btrfs_ioctl_balance fs/btrfs/ioctl.c:3564 [inline] btrfs_ioctl+0x531e/0x5b30 fs/btrfs/ioctl.c:4632 vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline] __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:870 [inline] __se_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:856 [inline] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x197/0x210 fs/ioctl.c:856 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x39/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd The reproducer is running a balance and a cancel or pause in parallel. The way balance finishes is a bit wonky, if we were paused we need to save the balance_ctl in the fs_info, but clear it otherwise and cleanup. However we rely on the return values being specific errors, or having a cancel request or no pause request. If balance completes and returns 0, but we have a pause or cancel request we won't do the appropriate cleanup, and then the next time we try to start a balance we'll trip this ASSERT. The error handling is just wrong here, we always want to clean up, unless we got -ECANCELLED and we set the appropriate pause flag i
- Products
- linux
- Affected versions
- 6.1.27-1, 6.1.37-1, 6.1.38-1, 6.1.38-2, 6.1.38-2~bpo11+1, 6.1.38-3, 6.1.38-4, 6.1.38-4~bpo11+1
- Fixed versions
- 6.1.52-1, 6.4.11-1
- CVEs
- CVE-2023-54023
- Confirmed fixed CVEs
- Not specified
- Updated in this feed
- 1 Nov 2026, 15:13 UTC · Revision 1
Source evidence
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: fix race between balance and cancel/pause Syzbot reported a panic that looks like this: assertion failed: fs_info->exclusive_operation == BTRFS_EXCLOP_BALANCE_PAUSED, in fs/btrfs/ioctl.c:465 ------------[ cut here ]------------ kernel BUG at fs/btrfs/messages.c:259! RIP: 0010:btrfs_assertfail+0x2c/0x30 fs/btrfs/messages.c:259 Call Trace: btrfs_exclop_balance fs/btrfs/ioctl.c:465 [inline] btrfs_ioctl_balance fs/btrfs/ioctl.c:3564 [inline] btrfs_ioctl+0x531e/0x5b30 fs/btrfs/ioctl.c:4632 vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline] __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:870 [inline] __se_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:856 [inline] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x197/0x210 fs/ioctl.c:856 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x39/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd The reproducer is running a balance and a cancel or pause in parallel. The way balance finishes is a bit wonky, if we were paused we need to save the balance_ctl in the fs_info, but clear it otherwise and cleanup. However we rely on the return values being specific errors, or having a cancel request or no pause request. If balance completes and returns 0, but we have a pause or cancel request we won't do the appropriate cleanup, and then the next time we try to start a balance we'll trip this ASSERT. The error handling is just wrong here, we always want to clean up, unless we got -ECANCELLED and we set the appropriate pause flag i
osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54023
linux
Fixed versions: 6.1.52-1
linux
Fixed versions: 6.4.11-1
linux
Fixed versions: 6.4.11-1
Complete source record
{
"id": "7b94c5e6cc04b5745d3c1a98a8a491f4fd356b95b3b3045134af0d2199c515af",
"url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54023",
"method": "structured",
"payload": {
"kind": "advisory",
"title": "DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54023",
"summary": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: fix race between balance and cancel/pause Syzbot reported a panic that looks like this: assertion failed: fs_info->exclusive_operation == BTRFS_EXCLOP_BALANCE_PAUSED, in fs/btrfs/ioctl.c:465 ------------[ cut here ]------------ kernel BUG at fs/btrfs/messages.c:259! RIP: 0010:btrfs_assertfail+0x2c/0x30 fs/btrfs/messages.c:259 Call Trace: btrfs_exclop_balance fs/btrfs/ioctl.c:465 [inline] btrfs_ioctl_balance fs/btrfs/ioctl.c:3564 [inline] btrfs_ioctl+0x531e/0x5b30 fs/btrfs/ioctl.c:4632 vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline] __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:870 [inline] __se_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:856 [inline] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x197/0x210 fs/ioctl.c:856 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x39/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd The reproducer is running a balance and a cancel or pause in parallel. The way balance finishes is a bit wonky, if we were paused we need to save the balance_ctl in the fs_info, but clear it otherwise and cleanup. However we rely on the return values being specific errors, or having a cancel request or no pause request. If balance completes and returns 0, but we have a pause or cancel request we won't do the appropriate cleanup, and then the next time we try to start a balance we'll trip this ASSERT. The error handling is just wrong here, we always want to clean up, unless we got -ECANCELLED and we set the appropriate pause flag i",
"evidence": "osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54023",
"products": [
{
"name": {
"value": "linux",
"evidence": "/affected/0/package/name"
},
"prerequisites": [],
"fixed_versions": [
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"value": "6.1.52-1",
"evidence": "/affected/0/ranges"
}
],
"affected_versions": [
{
"value": "6.1.27-1",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "6.1.37-1",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "6.1.38-1",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "6.1.38-2",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "6.1.38-2~bpo11+1",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "6.1.38-3",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "6.1.38-4",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
},
{
"value": "6.1.38-4~bpo11+1",
"evidence": "/affected/0/versions"
}
]
},
{
"name": {
"value": "linux",
"evidence": "/affected/1/package/name"
},
"prerequisites": [],
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{
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"evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
}
],
"affected_versions": []
},
{
"name": {
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"evidence": "/affected/2/package/name"
},
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"fixed_versions": [
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}
],
"affected_versions": []
}
],
"severity": "unknown",
"structured": {
"id": "DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54023",
"aliases": [
"DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54023"
],
"affected": [
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "6.1.52-1"
}
]
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],
"package": {
"name": "linux",
"purl": "pkg:deb/debian/linux?arch=source&distro=bookworm",
"ecosystem": "Debian:12"
},
"versions": [
"6.1.27-1",
"6.1.37-1",
"6.1.38-1",
"6.1.38-2",
"6.1.38-2~bpo11+1",
"6.1.38-3",
"6.1.38-4",
"6.1.38-4~bpo11+1"
],
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54023.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {
"urgency": "not yet assigned"
}
},
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "6.4.11-1"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "linux",
"purl": "pkg:deb/debian/linux?arch=source&distro=trixie",
"ecosystem": "Debian:13"
},
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54023.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {
"urgency": "not yet assigned"
}
},
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
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},
{
"fixed": "6.4.11-1"
}
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],
"package": {
"name": "linux",
"purl": "pkg:deb/debian/linux?arch=source&distro=forky",
"ecosystem": "Debian:14"
},
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54023.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {
"urgency": "not yet assigned"
}
}
],
"modified": "2026-10-26T17:47:38.468733154Z",
"provider": "osv",
"upstream": [
"CVE-2023-54023"
],
"references": [
"https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-54023"
]
},
"related_cves": [
{
"value": "CVE-2023-54023",
"evidence": "/upstream"
}
],
"security_relevant": true,
"severity_evidence": null
},
"source_id": "core-osv",
"document_id": 454754,
"published_at": "2025-12-24T11:15:55.307+00:00"
}