Linux Kernel prior 6.12.34/6.15.3/6.16-rc1 f2fs f2fs_gc_range allocation of resources

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability labeled as problematic has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.33/6.15.2/40d76c393cca83938b11eb7ca8983aa3cd0ed69b. Affected by this issue is the function f2fs_gc_range of the component f2fs. Such manipulation leads to allocation of resources. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2025-38164. There is no exploit available. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.33/6.15.2/40d76c393cca83938b11eb7ca8983aa3cd0ed69b and classified as problematic. Affected by this issue is the function f2fs_gc_range of the component f2fs. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a allocation of resources vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-770. The product allocates a reusable resource or group of resources on behalf of an actor without imposing any restrictions on the size or number of resources that can be allocated, in violation of the intended security policy for that actor. The impact remains unknown. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: f2fs: zone: fix to avoid inconsistence in between SIT and SSA w/ below testcase, it will cause inconsistence in between SIT and SSA. create_null_blk 512 2 1024 1024 mkfs.f2fs -m /dev/nullb0 mount /dev/nullb0 /mnt/f2fs/ touch /mnt/f2fs/file f2fs_io pinfile set /mnt/f2fs/file fallocate -l 4GiB /mnt/f2fs/file F2FS-fs (nullb0): Inconsistent segment (0) type [1, 0] in SSA and SIT CPU: 5 UID: 0 PID: 2398 Comm: fallocate Tainted: G O 6.13.0-rc1 #84 Tainted: [O]=OOT_MODULE Hardware name: innotek GmbH VirtualBox/VirtualBox, BIOS VirtualBox 12/01/2006 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0xb3/0xd0 dump_stack+0x14/0x20 f2fs_handle_critical_error+0x18c/0x220 [f2fs] f2fs_stop_checkpoint+0x38/0x50 [f2fs] do_garbage_collect+0x674/0x6e0 [f2fs] f2fs_gc_range+0x12b/0x230 [f2fs] f2fs_allocate_pinning_section+0x5c/0x150 [f2fs] f2fs_expand_inode_data+0x1cc/0x3c0 [f2fs] f2fs_fallocate+0x3c3/0x410 [f2fs] vfs_fallocate+0x15f/0x4b0 __x64_sys_fallocate+0x4a/0x80 x64_sys_call+0x15e8/0x1b80 do_syscall_64+0x68/0x130 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x67/0x6f RIP: 0033:0x7f9dba5197ca F2FS-fs (nullb0): Stopped filesystem due to reason: 4 The reason is f2fs_gc_range() may try to migrate block in curseg, however, its SSA block is not uptodate due to the last summary block data is still in cache of curseg. In this patch, we add a condition in f2fs_gc_range() to check whether section is opened or not, and skip block migration for opened section.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2025-38164 since 04/16/2025. The exploitation is known to be difficult. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 265934 (Ubuntu 24.04 LTS / 25.04 : Linux kernel vulnerabilities (USN-7769-1)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.12.34, 6.15.3 or 6.16-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 44a51592ac657d8e422585414d7ec17a5b50fb0e/8d9431b0d11a5030aa1ce477defee455b3821701/773704c1ef96a8b70d0d186ab725f50548de82c4 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (265934), EUVD (EUVD-2025-19780) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-1452). VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Affected

• Google Container-Optimized OS
• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• IBM QRadar SIEM
• SUSE openSUSE
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Dell Avamar
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• Dell NetWorker
• Dell Secure Connect Gateway

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4
• 6.12.5
• 6.12.6
• 6.12.7
• 6.12.8
• 6.12.9
• 6.12.10
• 6.12.11
• 6.12.12
• 6.12.13
• 6.12.14
• 6.12.15
• 6.12.16
• 6.12.17
• 6.12.18
• 6.12.19
• 6.12.20
• 6.12.21
• 6.12.22
• 6.12.23
• 6.12.24
• 6.12.25
• 6.12.26
• 6.12.27
• 6.12.28
• 6.12.29
• 6.12.30
• 6.12.31
• 6.12.32
• 6.12.33
• 6.15.0
• 6.15.1
• 6.15.2
• 40d76c393cca83938b11eb7ca8983aa3cd0ed69b

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

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