CVE-2026-43338

MEDIUMNVD 5.55.5
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

Score 5.5 from GitHub Security Advisory published 2026-05-08. NVD baseline CVSS 5.5; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: epss, ghsa, nvd
5.5
EchelonGraph verdictMonitorLow exploitation likelihood right now — keep watching.
  • Lower severity and no public exploit yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS: 0%CVSS: 5.5Exploit: NoneExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

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

btrfs: reserve enough transaction items for qgroup ioctls

Currently our qgroup ioctls don't reserve any space, they just do a transaction join, which does not reserve any space, neither for the quota tree updates nor for the delayed refs generated when updating the quota tree. The quota root uses the global block reserve, which is fine most of the time since we don't expect a lot of updates to the quota root, or to be too close to -ENOSPC such that other critical metadata updates need to resort to the global reserve.

However this is not optimal, as not reserving proper space may result in a transaction abort due to not reserving space for delayed refs and then abusing the use of the global block reserve.

For example, the following reproducer (which is unlikely to model any real world use case, but just to illustrate the problem), triggers such a transaction abort due to -ENOSPC when running delayed refs:

$ cat test.sh #!/bin/bash

DEV=/dev/nullb0 MNT=/mnt/nullb0

umount $DEV &> /dev/null # Limit device to 1G so that it's much faster to reproduce the issue. mkfs.btrfs -f -b 1G $DEV mount -o commit=600 $DEV $MNT

fallocate -l 800M $MNT/filler btrfs quota enable $MNT

for ((i = 1; i <= 400000; i++)); do btrfs qgroup create 1/$i $MNT done

umount $MNT

When running this, we can see in dmesg/syslog that a transaction abort happened:

[436.490] BTRFS error (device nullb0): failed to run delayed ref for logical 30408704 num_bytes 16384 type 176 action 1 ref_mod 1: -28 [436.493] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [436.494] BTRFS: Transaction aborted (error -28) [436.495] WARNING: fs/btrfs/extent-tree.c:2247 at btrfs_run_delayed_refs+0xd9/0x110 [btrfs], CPU#4: umount/2495372 [436.497] Modules linked in: btrfs loop (...) [436.508] CPU: 4 UID: 0 PID: 2495372 Comm: umount Tainted: G W 6.19.0-rc8-btrfs-next-225+ #1 PREEMPT(full) [436.510] Tainted: [W]=WARN [436.511] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.16.2-0-gea1b7a073390-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 [436.513] RIP: 0010:btrfs_run_delayed_refs+0xdf/0x110 [btrfs] [436.514] Code: 0f 82 ea (...) [436.518] RSP: 0018:ffffd511850b7d78 EFLAGS: 00010292 [436.519] RAX: 00000000ffffffe4 RBX: ffff8f120dad37e0 RCX: 0000000002040001 [436.520] RDX: 0000000000000002 RSI: 00000000ffffffe4 RDI: ffffffffc090fd80 [436.522] RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: ffffffffc04d1867 [436.523] R10: ffff8f18dc1fffa8 R11: 0000000000000003 R12: ffff8f173aa89400 [436.524] R13: 0000000000000000 R14: ffff8f173aa89400 R15: 0000000000000000 [436.526] FS: 00007fe59045d840(0000) GS:ffff8f192e22e000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [436.527] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [436.528] CR2: 00007fe5905ff2b0 CR3: 000000060710a002 CR4: 0000000000370ef0 [436.530] Call Trace: [436.530] [436.530] btrfs_commit_transaction+0x73/0xc00 [btrfs] [436.531] ? btrfs_attach_transaction_barrier+0x1e/0x70 [btrfs] [436.532] sync_filesystem+0x7a/0x90 [436.533] generic_shutdown_super+0x28/0x180 [436.533] kill_anon_super+0x12/0x40 [436.534] btrfs_kill_super+0x12/0x20 [btrfs] [436.534] deactivate_locked_super+0x2f/0xb0 [436.534] cleanup_mnt+0xea/0x180 [436.535] task_work_run+0x58/0xa0 [436.535] exit_to_user_mode_loop+0xed/0x480 [436.536] ? __x64_sys_umount+0x68/0x80 [436.536] do_syscall_64+0x2a5/0xf20 [436.537] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e [436.537] RIP: 0033:0x7fe5906b6217 [436.538] Code: 0d 00 f7 (...) [436.540] RSP: 002b:00007ffcd87a61f8 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 00000000000000a6 [436.541] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 00005618b9ecadc8 RCX: 00007fe5906b6217 [436.541] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 00005618b9ecb100 [436.542] RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 00007ffcd87a4fe0 R09: 00000000ffffffff [436.544] R10: 0000000000000103 R11: ---truncated---

CVSS v3
5.5
EG Score
5.5(medium)
EPSS
1.7%
KEV
Not listed

Published

May 8, 2026

Last Modified

May 15, 2026

Advisory Details (4)

Auto-updated Jun 17, 2026
No patch confirmed yet.
generic

btrfs: reserve enough transaction items for qgroup ioctls - kernel/git/stable/linux.git - Linux kernel stable tree

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f9a4e3015db1aeafbef407650eb8555445ca943e
generic

btrfs: reserve enough transaction items for qgroup ioctls - kernel/git/stable/linux.git - Linux kernel stable tree

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cf930a651eef6f8d915bf0ccd60c2045974f870c
generic

btrfs: reserve enough transaction items for qgroup ioctls - kernel/git/stable/linux.git - Linux kernel stable tree

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bb6eb33c908edbbb4d92abdc0c6c87f21b4952e8
generic

btrfs: reserve enough transaction items for qgroup ioctls - kernel/git/stable/linux.git - Linux kernel stable tree

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/386f5e16a383101a68e195c806b4eedb233cd1d3

Vendor Advisories for CVE-2026-43338(2)

These vendors published their own advisory mentioning this CVE — often with vendor-specific remediation steps + affected product lists not in NVD.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 7× in last 7d / 36× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

  1. 2026-07-15 16:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-07-15 02:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-07-13 22:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-07-13 06:13 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-07-12 05:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-07-11 08:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-07-09 19:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-07-08 15:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-07-07 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-07-06 16:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-07-06 02:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-07-04 06:31 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-07-01 15:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-06-30 23:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-06-29 14:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-06-28 14:07 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-06-28 05:08 UTCEG score recompute
  18. 2026-06-28 05:08 UTCGHSA enrichment
  19. 2026-06-28 04:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-06-27 03:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-06-26 21:31 UTCEG score recompute
  22. 2026-06-26 21:31 UTCGHSA enrichment
  23. 2026-06-25 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-06-25 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-06-24 14:05 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 74 more
  1. 2026-06-23 21:33 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-06-22 14:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-06-22 14:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-06-21 01:59 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-06-19 19:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-06-18 17:52 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-06-18 17:52 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-06-17 17:53 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-06-17 01:57 UTCEG score recompute
  10. 2026-06-17 01:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
  11. 2026-06-16 17:52 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-06-15 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-06-15 04:52 UTCEG score recompute
  14. 2026-06-15 04:52 UTCGHSA enrichment
  15. 2026-06-14 02:59 UTCEG score recompute
  16. 2026-06-14 02:58 UTCGHSA enrichment
  17. 2026-06-13 23:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-06-12 23:12 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-06-12 23:12 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-06-12 03:29 UTCEG score recompute
  21. 2026-06-12 03:29 UTCGHSA enrichment
  22. 2026-06-11 14:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-06-11 01:36 UTCEG score recompute
  24. 2026-06-11 01:36 UTCGHSA enrichment
  25. 2026-06-10 22:18 UTCEPSS rescore
  26. 2026-06-10 13:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  27. 2026-06-10 13:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  28. 2026-06-09 23:40 UTCEG score recompute
  29. 2026-06-09 23:40 UTCGHSA enrichment
  30. 2026-06-08 21:47 UTCEG score recompute
  31. 2026-06-08 21:47 UTCGHSA enrichment
  32. 2026-06-08 14:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  33. 2026-06-08 14:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  34. 2026-06-07 19:20 UTCEG score recompute
  35. 2026-06-07 19:20 UTCGHSA enrichment
  36. 2026-06-07 15:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  37. 2026-06-07 15:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  38. 2026-06-06 17:26 UTCEG score recompute
  39. 2026-06-06 17:26 UTCGHSA enrichment
  40. 2026-06-06 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  41. 2026-06-06 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  42. 2026-06-05 22:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  43. 2026-06-05 15:33 UTCEG score recompute
  44. 2026-06-05 15:33 UTCGHSA enrichment
  45. 2026-06-04 13:40 UTCEG score recompute
  46. 2026-06-04 13:40 UTCGHSA enrichment
  47. 2026-06-04 13:12 UTCEPSS rescore
  48. 2026-06-04 13:12 UTCEPSS rescore
  49. 2026-06-03 11:46 UTCEG score recompute
  50. 2026-06-03 11:46 UTCGHSA enrichment
  51. 2026-06-02 20:13 UTCEPSS rescore
  52. 2026-06-02 09:53 UTCEG score recompute
  53. 2026-06-02 09:53 UTCGHSA enrichment
  54. 2026-06-01 13:52 UTCEPSS rescore
  55. 2026-06-01 13:52 UTCEPSS rescore
  56. 2026-06-01 07:59 UTCEG score recompute
  57. 2026-06-01 07:59 UTCGHSA enrichment
  58. 2026-05-31 22:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  59. 2026-05-31 22:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  60. 2026-05-31 00:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  61. 2026-05-31 00:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  62. 2026-05-29 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  63. 2026-05-29 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  64. 2026-05-28 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  65. 2026-05-28 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  66. 2026-05-27 13:40 UTCEPSS rescore
  67. 2026-05-27 13:40 UTCEPSS rescore
  68. 2026-05-26 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  69. 2026-05-26 07:18 UTCEPSS rescore
  70. 2026-05-21 22:43 UTCEPSS rescore
  71. 2026-05-20 22:38 UTCEPSS rescore
  72. 2026-05-20 13:42 UTCEG score recompute
  73. 2026-05-20 13:42 UTCGHSA enrichment
  74. 2026-05-20 11:22 UTCEPSS rescore

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2026-43338?
CVE-2026-43338 is a medium vulnerability published on May 8, 2026. In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: reserve enough transaction items for qgroup ioctls Currently our qgroup ioctls don't reserve any space, they just do a transaction join, which does not reserve any space, neither for the quota tree updates nor for the…
When was CVE-2026-43338 disclosed?
CVE-2026-43338 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on May 8, 2026, with the most recent update on May 15, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2026-43338 actively exploited?
CVE-2026-43338 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 1.7% percentile likelihood of exploitation in the next 30 days — higher percentiles indicate greater predicted risk.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-43338?
CVE-2026-43338 has a CVSS v3 base score of 5.5 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2026-43338?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2026-43338, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

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