VDB-314956 · CVE-2025-38219 · EUVD-2025-20037

Linux Kernel up to 6.15.3 fs/inode.c i_nlink privilege escalation

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
4.9	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability described as problematic has been identified in Linux Kernel up to 6.15.3. This issue affects the function i_nlink of the file fs/inode.c. Executing a manipulation can lead to an unknown weakness. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2025-38219. There is not any exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as problematic was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.15.3. This vulnerability affects the function i_nlink of the file fs/inode.c. The impact remains unknown. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: f2fs: prevent kernel warning due to negative i_nlink from corrupted image WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 9426 at fs/inode.c:417 drop_nlink+0xac/0xd0 home/cc/linux/fs/inode.c:417 Modules linked in: CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 9426 Comm: syz-executor568 Not tainted 6.14.0-12627-g94d471a4f428 #2 PREEMPT(full) Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.13.0-1ubuntu1.1 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:drop_nlink+0xac/0xd0 home/cc/linux/fs/inode.c:417 Code: 48 8b 5d 28 be 08 00 00 00 48 8d bb 70 07 00 00 e8 f9 67 e6 ff f0 48 ff 83 70 07 00 00 5b 5d e9 9a 12 82 ff e8 95 12 82 ff 90 <0f> 0b 90 c7 45 48 ff ff ff ff 5b 5d e9 83 12 82 ff e8 fe 5f e6 ff RSP: 0018:ffffc900026b7c28 EFLAGS: 00010293 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: ffffffff8239710f RDX: ffff888041345a00 RSI: ffffffff8239717b RDI: 0000000000000005 RBP: ffff888054509ad0 R08: 0000000000000005 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: ffffffff9ab36f08 R12: ffff88804bb40000 R13: ffff8880545091e0 R14: 0000000000008000 R15: ffff8880545091e0 FS: 000055555d0c5880(0000) GS:ffff8880eb3e3000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007f915c55b178 CR3: 0000000050d20000 CR4: 0000000000352ef0 Call Trace: <task> f2fs_i_links_write home/cc/linux/fs/f2fs/f2fs.h:3194 [inline] f2fs_drop_nlink+0xd1/0x3c0 home/cc/linux/fs/f2fs/dir.c:845 f2fs_delete_entry+0x542/0x1450 home/cc/linux/fs/f2fs/dir.c:909 f2fs_unlink+0x45c/0x890 home/cc/linux/fs/f2fs/namei.c:581 vfs_unlink+0x2fb/0x9b0 home/cc/linux/fs/namei.c:4544 do_unlinkat+0x4c5/0x6a0 home/cc/linux/fs/namei.c:4608 __do_sys_unlink home/cc/linux/fs/namei.c:4654 [inline] __se_sys_unlink home/cc/linux/fs/namei.c:4652 [inline] __x64_sys_unlink+0xc5/0x110 home/cc/linux/fs/namei.c:4652 do_syscall_x64 home/cc/linux/arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xc7/0x250 home/cc/linux/arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f RIP: 0033:0x7fb3d092324b Code: 73 01 c3 48 c7 c1 c0 ff ff ff f7 d8 64 89 01 48 83 c8 ff c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 90 f3 0f 1e fa b8 57 00 00 00 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 c7 c1 c0 ff ff ff f7 d8 64 89 01 48 RSP: 002b:00007ffdc232d938 EFLAGS: 00000206 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000057 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: 00007fb3d092324b RDX: 00007ffdc232d960 RSI: 00007ffdc232d960 RDI: 00007ffdc232d9f0 RBP: 00007ffdc232d9f0 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: 00007ffdc232d7c0 R10: 00000000fffffffd R11: 0000000000000206 R12: 00007ffdc232eaf0 R13: 000055555d0cebb0 R14: 00007ffdc232d958 R15: 0000000000000001 </task>

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability was named CVE-2025-38219 since 04/16/2025. The exploitation appears to be difficult. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 249177 (Debian dsa-5973 : affs-modules-6.1.0-37-4kc-malta-di - security update), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.4.295, 5.10.239, 5.15.186, 6.1.142, 6.6.95, 6.12.35, 6.15.4 or 6.16-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch d9a55869d8237e677ddaa18b0f58586364cfbc1c/1f6332872374b7f482fc4ad865f9422fedb587fc/fbfe8446cd3274b9e367f5708d94574230a44409/5018d035530b6fbfad33eeb1dd1bc87da419a276/a87cbcc909ccfd394d4936a94663f586453d0961/aaa644e7ffff02e12c89cbce4753bc0b6f23ff87/d14cbed4baccd712447fb3f9c011f008b56b2097/42cb74a92adaf88061039601ddf7c874f58b554e 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 (249177), EUVD (EUVD-2025-20037) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-1465). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Affected

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

License

open-source

Website

Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 5.0
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 4.9

VulDB Base Score: 4.6
VulDB Temp Score: 4.4
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 5.5
NVD Vector: 🔒

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Privilege escalation
CWE: Unknown
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Partially

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Nessus ID: 249177
Nessus Name: Debian dsa-5973 : affs-modules-6.1.0-37-4kc-malta-di - security update

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

04/16/2025 CVE reserved
07/04/2025 +79 days Advisory disclosed
07/04/2025 +0 days VulDB entry created
12/19/2025 +168 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2025-38219 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2025-38219
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-314956
EUVD: 🔒
CERT Bund: WID-SEC-2025-1465 - Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen ermöglichen Denial of Service

Entryinfo

Created: 07/04/2025 16:30
Updated: 12/19/2025 07:15
Changes: 07/04/2025 16:30 (57), 07/04/2025 17:59 (1), 07/20/2025 19:37 (7), 08/13/2025 22:12 (2), 08/25/2025 19:01 (1), 09/11/2025 09:21 (1), 09/21/2025 03:42 (1), 11/03/2025 04:03 (1), 12/13/2025 23:12 (1), 12/19/2025 07:15 (13)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103