CVE-2026-98081

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Btrfs file system when handling zoned storage devices. When an operation to finish a storage zone fails, the system returns early without completing proper cleanup, leaving the block group in an inconsistent state and stranding waiting tasks. A local user could exploit this condition during storage operations to induce an infinite loop, resulting in a system hang and Denial of Service (DoS).

This vulnerability is rated as having a Low impact because exploitation is constrained to a local denial of service and requires specialized zoned block device hardware combined with an unexpected I/O error during zone completion. In typical Red Hat Enterprise Linux deployments, Btrfs is not used as the default root filesystem, and zoned storage configurations are uncommon. Consequently, standard enterprise installations running on conventional block storage are not exposed to this condition.

The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.