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CVE-2026-23249

5.5 · MEDIUM

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xfs: check for deleted cursors when revalidating two btrees The free space and inode btree repair functions will rebuild both b…

Published Mar 18, 2026CWE-476EPSS 0.15%

Overview

CVE-2026-23249 is a medium-severity vulnerability. It was published on March 18, 2026 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.5 (MEDIUM).

This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.5, rated MEDIUM. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. Some level of privileges is required for exploitation.

Technical description

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

xfs: check for deleted cursors when revalidating two btrees

The free space and inode btree repair functions will rebuild both btrees

at the same time, after which it needs to evaluate both btrees to

confirm that the corruptions are gone.

However, Jiaming Zhang ran syzbot and produced a crash in the second

xchk_allocbt call. His root-cause analysis is as follows (with minor

corrections):

In xrep_revalidate_allocbt(), xchk_allocbt() is called twice (first

for BNOBT, second for CNTBT). The cause of this issue is that the

first call nullified the cursor required by the second call.

Let's first enter xrep_revalidate_allocbt() via following call chain:

xfs_file_ioctl() ->

xfs_ioc_scrubv_metadata() ->

xfs_scrub_metadata() ->

`sc->ops->repair_eval(sc)` ->

xrep_revalidate_allocbt()

xchk_allocbt() is called twice in this function. In the first call:

/* Note that sc->sm->sm_type is XFS_SCRUB_TYPE_BNOPT now */

Remediation

Check the references section for vendor advisories, patches, and mitigation guidance. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-23249?

CVE-2026-23249 is a medium-severity vulnerability. It was published on March 18, 2026 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.5 (MEDIUM).

How severe is CVE-2026-23249?

This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.5, rated MEDIUM. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. Some level of privileges is required for exploitation.

How do I fix or remediate CVE-2026-23249?

Check the references section for vendor advisories, patches, and mitigation guidance. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.

How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2026-23249?

CyberStrike is an open-source, AI-augmented pentesting engine. Rather than flag a version number, it tests whether an issue like CVE-2026-23249 is actually reachable in your own applications and APIs, then verifies each finding before reporting it. That tells you if the weakness is a real, exploitable risk in your environment or a false positive you can safely deprioritize.

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