{"id":"CVE-2026-45895","url":"https://www.cyber-defence.io/tools/cve/CVE-2026-45895","generatedAt":"2026-10-28T03:22:30.224Z","title":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: quota: fix livelock between quotactl and freeze_super When a filesystem is frozen, quotactl_block() enters a retry loop waiting for the filesystem to thaw.","description":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nquota: fix livelock between quotactl and freeze_super\n\nWhen a filesystem is frozen, quotactl_block() enters a retry loop\nwaiting for the filesystem to thaw. It acquires s_umount, checks the\nfreeze state, drops s_umount and uses sb_start_write() - sb_end_write()\npair to wait for the unfreeze.\n\nHowever, this retry loop can trigger a livelock issue, specifically on\nkernels with preemption disabled.\n\nThe mechanism is as follows:\n1. freeze_super() sets SB_FREEZE_WRITE and calls sb_wait_write().\n2. sb_wait_write() calls percpu_down_write(), which initiates\n   synchronize_rcu().\n3. Simultaneously, quotactl_block() spins in its retry loop, immediately\n   executing the sb_start_write() - sb_end_write() pair.\n4. Because the kernel is non-preemptible and the loop contains no\n   scheduling points, quotactl_block() never yields the CPU. This\n   prevents that CPU from reaching an RCU quiescent state.\n5. synchronize_rcu() in the freezer thread waits indefinitely for the\n   quotactl_block() CPU to report a quiescent state.\n6. quotactl_block() spins indefinitely waiting for the freezer to\n   advance, which it cannot do as it is blocked on the RCU sync.\n\nThis results in a hang of the freezer process and 100% CPU usage by the\nquota process.\n\nWhile this can occur intermittently on multi-core systems, it is\nreliably reproducing on a node with the following script, running both\nthe freezer and the quota toggle on the same CPU:\n\n  # mkfs.ext4 -O quota /dev/sda 2g && mkdir a_mount\n  # mount /dev/sda -o quota,usrquota,grpquota a_mount\n  # taskset -c 3 bash -c \"while true; do xfs_freeze -f a_mount; \\\n    xfs_freeze -u a_mount; done\" &\n  # taskset -c 3 bash -c \"while true; do quotaon a_mount; \\\n    quotaoff a_mount; done\" &\n\nAdding cond_resched() to the retry loop fixes the issue. It acts as an\nRCU quiescent state, allowing synchronize_rcu() in percpu_down_write()\nto complete.","published":"2026-05-27T14:17:04.000Z","lastModified":"2026-06-25T21:09:58.000Z","status":"Analyzed","sourceIdentifier":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67","cvss":{"version":"3.1","score":5.5,"severity":"MEDIUM","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"},"cwe":[],"affected":["linux/linux kernel"],"epss":{"score":0.0016,"percentile":0.05113,"date":"2026-10-26","history":[]},"kev":{"listed":false},"exploits":{"count":0,"verified":false,"firstPublished":null,"source":"Exploit-DB (https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb)","entries":[]},"verdict":{"level":"low","text":"Lower severity and a low EPSS score (0.16%). Track it; it rarely justifies an emergency change on its own."},"changes":[],"references":[{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/02bb1500f1479750e6557c8044f6a2d7e9d30c12","tags":["Patch"],"source":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/37ccd48cf35f3c8b9f2ea961a7b486b91eb71a82","tags":["Patch"],"source":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/414259caf81a397563fc9baca9c0ef856c4a97cf","tags":["Patch"],"source":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/53b2314b26b6640a3657cc924de63a1a8f26ac4d","tags":["Patch"],"source":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/77449e453dfc006ad738dec55374c4cbc056fd39","tags":["Patch"],"source":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"}],"sources":{"nvd":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-45895","epss":"https://www.first.org/epss/","kev":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","exploitdb":"https://www.exploit-db.com/"},"licence":"CC BY 4.0 — link back to the CVE Explorer if you publish the results; upstream data remains subject to its own terms."}