Medium (5.5) in linux linux kernel. EPSS 0.2% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
block: skip sync_blockdev() on surprise removal in bdev_mark_dead()
bdev_mark_dead()'s @surprise == true means the device is already gone.
The filesystem callback fs_bdev_mark_dead() honours this and skips
sync_filesystem(), but the bare block device path (no ->mark_dead op)
lost its !surprise guard when the holder ->mark_dead callback was wired
up (see Fixes), and now calls sync_blockdev() unconditionally, which can
hang forever waiting on writeback that can no longer complete.
syzkaller hit this via nvme_reset_work()'s "I/O queues lost" path:
nvme_mark_namespaces_dead() -> blk_mark_disk_dead() ->
bdev_mark_dead(bdev, true) -> sync_blockdev() blocks in
folio_wait_writeback(), wedging the reset worker and every task waiting
on it.
Skip the sync on surprise removal, matching fs_bdev_mark_dead();
invalidate_bdev() still runs. Orderly removal (surprise == false) is
unchanged.
Found by FuzzNvme(Syzkaller with FEMU fuzzing framework).
Severity
CVSS 3.1
5.5 medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS
0.2% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days; higher than 5% of CVEs (scores of 2026-10-31)