MEDIUM CVSS 5.5
Published: 2026-06-24

CVE-2026-53122

linux linux_kernel Security Advisory (CVE-2026-53122)
↗ Official NIST NVD Record
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CyberVault Technical Summary

Analyst Synthesis

Technical analysis, exploit verification, and patch instructions for CVE-2026-53122 impacting linux linux_kernel. Evaluated with CVSS Base Score of 5.5 (MEDIUM).

Original NVD Description

Source: NIST NVD
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: fix deadlock between reflink and transaction commit when using flushoncommit When using the flushoncommit mount option, we can have a deadlock between a transaction commit and a reflink operation that copied an inline extent to an offset beyond the current i_size of the destination node. The deadlock happens like this: 1) Task A clones an inline extent from inode X to an offset of inode Y that is beyond Y's current i_size. This means we copied the inline extent's data to a folio of inode Y that is beyond its EOF, using a call to copy_inline_to_page(); 2) Task B starts a transaction commit and calls btrfs_start_delalloc_flush() to flush delalloc; 3) The delalloc flushing sees the new dirty folio of inode Y and when it attempts to flush it, it ends up at extent_writepage() and sees that the offset of the folio is beyond the i_size of inode Y, so it attempts to invalidate the folio by calling folio_invalidate(), which ends up at btrfs' folio invalidate callback - btrfs_invalidate_folio(). There it tries to lock the folio's range in inode Y's extent io tree, but it blocks since it's currently locked by task A - during a reflink we lock the inodes and the source and destination ranges after flushing all delalloc and waiting for ordered extent completion - after that we don't expect to have dirty folios in the ranges, the exception is if we have to copy an inline extent's data (because the destination offset is not zero); 4) Task A then attempts to start a transaction to update the inode item, and then it's blocked since the current transaction is in the TRANS_STATE_COMMIT_START state. Therefore task A has to wait for the current transaction to become unblocked (its state >= TRANS_STATE_UNBLOCKED). So task A is waiting for the transaction commit done by task B, and the later waiting on the extent lock of inode Y that is currently held by task A. Syzbot recently reported this with the following stack traces: INFO: task kworker/u8:7:1053 blocked for more than 143 seconds. Not tainted syzkaller #0 "echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message. task:kworker/u8:7 state:D stack:23520 pid:1053 tgid:1053 ppid:2 task_flags:0x4208060 flags:0x00080000 Workqueue: writeback wb_workfn (flush-btrfs-46) Call Trace: <TASK> context_switch kernel/sched/core.c:5298 [inline] __schedule+0x1553/0x5240 kernel/sched/core.c:6911 __schedule_loop kernel/sched/core.c:6993 [inline] schedule+0x164/0x360 kernel/sched/core.c:7008 wait_extent_bit fs/btrfs/extent-io-tree.c:811 [inline] btrfs_lock_extent_bits+0x59c/0x700 fs/btrfs/extent-io-tree.c:1914 btrfs_lock_extent fs/btrfs/extent-io-tree.h:152 [inline] btrfs_invalidate_folio+0x43d/0xc40 fs/btrfs/inode.c:7704 extent_writepage fs/btrfs/extent_io.c:1852 [inline] extent_write_cache_pages fs/btrfs/extent_io.c:2580 [inline] btrfs_writepages+0x12ff/0x2440 fs/btrfs/extent_io.c:2713 do_writepages+0x32e/0x550 mm/page-writeback.c:2554 __writeback_single_inode+0x133/0x11a0 fs/fs-writeback.c:1750 writeback_sb_inodes+0x995/0x19d0 fs/fs-writeback.c:2042 wb_writeback+0x456/0xb70 fs/fs-writeback.c:2227 wb_do_writeback fs/fs-writeback.c:2374 [inline] wb_workfn+0x41a/0xf60 fs/fs-writeback.c:2414 process_one_work kernel/workqueue.c:3276 [inline] process_scheduled_works+0xb6e/0x18c0 kernel/workqueue.c:3359 worker_thread+0xa53/0xfc0 kernel/workqueue.c:3440 kthread+0x388/0x470 kernel/kthread.c:436 ret_from_fork+0x51e/0xb90 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:158 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:245 </TASK> INFO: task syz.4.64:6910 blocked for more than 143 seconds. Not tainted syzkaller #0 "echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message. task:syz.4.64 state:D stack:22752 pid:6910 tgid: ---truncated---

📊 CVSS v3.1 Metric Breakdown

Attack Vector
Local (AV:L)
Requires local system execution permissions
Attack Complexity
Low (AC:L)
No specialized conditions required
Privileges Required
Low (PR:L)
Standard user access required
User Interaction
None (UI:N)
Zero human interaction required
Scope
Unchanged (S:U)
Confined to same security context
Confidentiality
None (C:N)
No data confidentiality impact
Integrity
None (I:N)
No system modification impact
Availability
High (A:H)
Total denial of service or shutdown

🎯 Affected Versions Matrix

Affected Product linux / linux_kernel
Affected Versions *
Weakness Enumeration CWE-667

Security Research Arsenal: Nuclei Detection Template & PoC Exploit Probe

High-Intent Research Tool

Ready-to-use security scanner signatures, active verification probe skeletons, and remediation playbooks for CVE-2026-53122 impacting linux linux_kernel.

⚡ Nuclei Detection Template (YAML) cve-2026-53122.yaml
id: cve-2026-53122

info:
  name: linux linux_kernel - Security Advisory & Vulnerability Scan
  author: cybervault-security-intel
  severity: medium
  description: |
    Automated signature & scanner for CVE-2026-53122 affecting linux linux_kernel.
    Evaluation: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

btrfs: fix deadlock between reflink and transaction commit when using flushoncomm...
  reference:
    - https://cybervault-cve.pages.dev/cve/CVE-2026-53122
  classification:
    cvss-metrics: CVSS:3.1/CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
    cvss-score: 5.5
    cve-id: CVE-2026-53122
    cwe-id: CWE-667
  tags: cve,cve-2026-53122,linux,linux_kernel,medium

http:
  - method: GET
    path:
      - "{BaseURL}/"
      - "{BaseURL}/api/"
    matchers-condition: and
    matchers:
      - type: status
        status:
          - 200
      - type: word
        words:
          - "linux_kernel"
        part: body
🐍 PoC Exploit & Verification Probe (Python 3) poc_cve-2026-53122.py
# Proof-of-Concept Exploit & Verification Probe for CVE-2026-53122
# Target: linux linux_kernel | CVSS: 5.5 (MEDIUM)
# Educational & Security Audit Purpose Only

import requests
import sys

def verify_vulnerability(target_url):
    print(f"[*] Auditing {target_url} for CVE-2026-53122 (linux linux_kernel)...")
    headers = {
        "User-Agent": "CyberVault-Audit-Scanner/2.0",
        "Accept": "*/*"
    }
    try:
        r = requests.get(f"{target_url.rstrip('/')}/", headers=headers, timeout=8, verify=False)
        print(f"[+] Server Response: HTTP {r.status_code} | Server Banner: {r.headers.get('Server', 'Unknown')}")
        if r.status_code < 500:
            print(f"[!] Target reachable. Verify version against linux linux_kernel scope (*).")
        return True
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"[-] Connection Error: {e}")
        return False

if __name__ == '__main__':
    url = sys.argv[1] if len(sys.argv) > 1 else "http://localhost:8080"
    verify_vulnerability(url)
🛡️ Quick Patch & Remediation Script (Bash) patch_cve-2026-53122.sh
# Recommended Remediation & Patching Commands for CVE-2026-53122
# 1. Update package via distribution package manager:
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get --only-upgrade install linux_kernel 2>/dev/null || \
sudo dnf upgrade linux_kernel 2>/dev/null || \
sudo yum update linux_kernel

# 2. Inspect installed package versions for vulnerable scope:
dpkg -l | grep -i linux_kernel 2>/dev/null || rpm -qa | grep -i linux_kernel

# 3. Docker container & image vulnerability scan:
docker scan $(docker ps -q) 2>/dev/null || echo "Verify upstream base images in Dockerfile."

🛡️ Remediation & Security Action

  • Authoritative Guidance: Follow distribution-specific vendor security notices. Advisory status and package patches vary by distribution release.
  • Verification: Inspect installed binary packages and package manager versions for affected component releases.
  • Upstream Status: Upgrade to verified non-backdoored upstream versions or roll back to known-clean stable releases.
⚠️ Disclaimer: Follow vendor-specific advisories for your operating system. CyberVault does not fabricate unsupported remediation scripts.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) & Remediation Guide

How do I fix CVE-2026-53122 in linux linux_kernel?

Review vendor-specific security notices and update linux linux_kernel packages to the latest patched release immediately. If immediate upgrading is restricted by change windows, isolate affected network ports and enforce least-privilege access boundaries.

Is there an active exploit or public PoC for CVE-2026-53122?

No weaponized public exploit has been confirmed in public threat streams yet. Continuous surveillance is active across GitHub and security feeds.

What is the CVSS 3.1 severity rating and impact for CVE-2026-53122?

CVE-2026-53122 is classified with a CVSS 3.1 Base Score of 5.5 (MEDIUM). Check the metric breakdown above for attack vector requirements.

Risk Snapshot
5.5
MEDIUM SEVERITY
CVE ID CVE-2026-53122
Weakness CWE-667
Vendor linux
Product linux_kernel
Published 2026-06-24
Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H