CVE-2026-98091

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Btrfs file system. A local user with permissions to perform file system operations could exploit this vulnerability to cause a denial of service (DoS) via a system crash or potentially corrupt system memory. The issue occurs when error handling during sprout device chunk initialization fails to properly unlink the device before releasing it, leaving active kernel transactions referencing freed memory in a use-after-free condition.

This vulnerability is rated as Moderate because exploitation requires local access with elevated privileges to execute specialized filesystem operations on Btrfs volumes, restricting the potential blast radius to a local denial of service. Standard Red Hat Enterprise Linux installations do not employ Btrfs as a default filesystem, significantly curtailing exposure under typical deployments. An attacker must possess sufficient permissions to add sprout devices and trigger chunk creation failures, making remote or unprivileged exploitation unfeasible.

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.

Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options don't meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.