---
id: CVE-2026-97902
title: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  fs: don't return -EINVAL for successful nested thaw

  Commit 7366f8b6fc6a ("fs: handle freezing from multiple devices")
  replaced the freeze_holders bitmask with per-hold…
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  fs: don't return -EINVAL for successful nested thaw

  Commit 7366f8b6fc6a ("fs: handle freezing from multiple devices")
  replaced the freeze_holders bitmask with per-hold…
severity: none
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= 7366f8b6fc6aa21c4199cb5d337b023df69745b0 <
    111339816138f042a59778322f941edc26903484
  - >-
    Linux >= 7366f8b6fc6aa21c4199cb5d337b023df69745b0 <
    76e478499913dc1f368aebe85b28b7d1265985ff
  - >-
    Linux >= 7366f8b6fc6aa21c4199cb5d337b023df69745b0 <
    ff2a694f6613d54ebd77ba72583d4d94446f55bd
  - >-
    Linux >= 7366f8b6fc6aa21c4199cb5d337b023df69745b0 <
    fe967191e5851ea79818c5fe4e781c3882139218
  - Linux 6.8
published: '2026-09-25'
updated: '2026-09-25'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-25T11:17:17.000'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-97902'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/111339816138f042a59778322f941edc26903484'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/76e478499913dc1f368aebe85b28b7d1265985ff'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fe967191e5851ea79818c5fe4e781c3882139218'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ff2a694f6613d54ebd77ba72583d4d94446f55bd'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
ingestedAt: '2026-09-25T11:06:38.896Z'
---

## Overview

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

fs: don't return -EINVAL for successful nested thaw

Commit 7366f8b6fc6a ("fs: handle freezing from multiple devices")
replaced the freeze_holders bitmask with per-holder counters to allow
nested freezes. In the bitmask version, a thaw that released a shared
hold while another holder remained returned 0. Since the rework,
thaw_super_locked() drops the freeze reference via freeze_dec() but
then returns -EINVAL when other freezers remain, misinforming the
caller: the thaw did succeed, the superblock just stays frozen for the
remaining holders.

This breaks bdev-initiated freezing. When a filesystem is frozen with
FIFREEZE and additionally frozen via bdev_freeze() -- which nests by
design, see fs_bdev_freeze() -- the subsequent bdev_thaw() receives
-EINVAL from the holder op although its freeze reference was dropped,
and therefore keeps bd_fsfreeze_count elevated. Then device-mapper's
unlock_fs() ignores bdev_thaw()'s return value, so nothing rebalances
the count. After the user's FITHAW and umount, the block device can
never be mounted again:

    dm-1: Can't mount, blockdev is frozen

There is no way for userspace to drop the leaked count; only
destroying the block device (or a reboot) recovers the device.

Reproducer (any kernel since v6.8):

    dmsetup create dut --table "0 $(blockdev --getsz "$DEV") linear $DEV 0"
    mkfs.ext4 /dev/mapper/dut
    mount /dev/mapper/dut /mnt
    fsfreeze --freeze /mnt      # freeze_ucount == 1
    dmsetup suspend dut         # bd_fsfreeze_count == 1, ucount == 2
    dmsetup resume dut          # ucount 2 -> 1, but thaw_super()
                                # returns -EINVAL, so bdev_thaw()
                                # keeps bd_fsfreeze_count at 1
    fsfreeze --unfreeze /mnt    # filesystem thaws fine
    umount /mnt
    mount /dev/mapper/dut /mnt  # EBUSY, forever

The same happens with fsfreeze held across an LVM snapshot of the
origin volume.

fs_bdev_thaw()'s documentation already describes the intended
semantics: "If this function returns zero it doesn't mean that the
filesystem is unfrozen as it may have been frozen multiple times".
Restore them by returning 0 when a nested thaw drops its hold while
other freezers remain. Thawing without holding a freeze still fails
with -EINVAL as may_unfreeze() rejects that case before the reference
count is touched.

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.