Linux Kernel up to 6.16.0 f2fs_evict_inode use after free

CVSS Meta Temp Score
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CTI Interest Score
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6.6$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.147/6.6.101/6.12.41/6.15.9/6.16.0. Affected by this issue is the function f2fs_evict_inode. The manipulation leads to use after free. This vulnerability is referenced as CVE-2025-38577. No exploit is available. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.147/6.6.101/6.12.41/6.15.9/6.16.0 and classified as critical. This issue affects the function f2fs_evict_inode. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: f2fs: fix to avoid panic in f2fs_evict_inode As syzbot [1] reported as below: R10: 0000000000000100 R11: 0000000000000206 R12: 00007ffe17473450 R13: 00007f28b1c10854 R14: 000000000000dae5 R15: 00007ffe17474520 </TASK> ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- ================================================================== BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in __list_del_entry_valid+0xa6/0x130 lib/list_debug.c:62 Read of size 8 at addr ffff88812d962278 by task syz-executor/564 CPU: 1 PID: 564 Comm: syz-executor Tainted: G W 6.1.129-syzkaller #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 02/12/2025 Call Trace: <TASK> __dump_stack+0x21/0x24 lib/dump_stack.c:88 dump_stack_lvl+0xee/0x158 lib/dump_stack.c:106 print_address_description+0x71/0x210 mm/kasan/report.c:316 print_report+0x4a/0x60 mm/kasan/report.c:427 kasan_report+0x122/0x150 mm/kasan/report.c:531 __asan_report_load8_noabort+0x14/0x20 mm/kasan/report_generic.c:351 __list_del_entry_valid+0xa6/0x130 lib/list_debug.c:62 __list_del_entry include/linux/list.h:134 [inline] list_del_init include/linux/list.h:206 [inline] f2fs_inode_synced+0xf7/0x2e0 fs/f2fs/super.c:1531 f2fs_update_inode+0x74/0x1c40 fs/f2fs/inode.c:585 f2fs_update_inode_page+0x137/0x170 fs/f2fs/inode.c:703 f2fs_write_inode+0x4ec/0x770 fs/f2fs/inode.c:731 write_inode fs/fs-writeback.c:1460 [inline] __writeback_single_inode+0x4a0/0xab0 fs/fs-writeback.c:1677 writeback_single_inode+0x221/0x8b0 fs/fs-writeback.c:1733 sync_inode_metadata+0xb6/0x110 fs/fs-writeback.c:2789 f2fs_sync_inode_meta+0x16d/0x2a0 fs/f2fs/checkpoint.c:1159 block_operations fs/f2fs/checkpoint.c:1269 [inline] f2fs_write_checkpoint+0xca3/0x2100 fs/f2fs/checkpoint.c:1658 kill_f2fs_super+0x231/0x390 fs/f2fs/super.c:4668 deactivate_locked_super+0x98/0x100 fs/super.c:332 deactivate_super+0xaf/0xe0 fs/super.c:363 cleanup_mnt+0x45f/0x4e0 fs/namespace.c:1186 __cleanup_mnt+0x19/0x20 fs/namespace.c:1193 task_work_run+0x1c6/0x230 kernel/task_work.c:203 exit_task_work include/linux/task_work.h:39 [inline] do_exit+0x9fb/0x2410 kernel/exit.c:871 do_group_exit+0x210/0x2d0 kernel/exit.c:1021 __do_sys_exit_group kernel/exit.c:1032 [inline] __se_sys_exit_group kernel/exit.c:1030 [inline] __x64_sys_exit_group+0x3f/0x40 kernel/exit.c:1030 x64_sys_call+0x7b4/0x9a0 arch/x86/include/generated/asm/syscalls_64.h:232 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:51 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x4c/0xa0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:81 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x68/0xd2 RIP: 0033:0x7f28b1b8e169 Code: Unable to access opcode bytes at 0x7f28b1b8e13f. RSP: 002b:00007ffe174710a8 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 00000000000000e7 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007f28b1c10879 RCX: 00007f28b1b8e169 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 0000000000000001 RBP: 0000000000000002 R08: 00007ffe1746ee47 R09: 00007ffe17472360 R10: 0000000000000009 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 00007ffe17472360 R13: 00007f28b1c10854 R14: 000000000000dae5 R15: 00007ffe17474520 </TASK> Allocated by task 569: kasan_save_stack mm/kasan/common.c:45 [inline] kasan_set_track+0x4b/0x70 mm/kasan/common.c:52 kasan_save_alloc_info+0x25/0x30 mm/kasan/generic.c:505 __kasan_slab_alloc+0x72/0x80 mm/kasan/common.c:328 kasan_slab_alloc include/linux/kasan.h:201 [inline] slab_post_alloc_hook+0x4f/0x2c0 mm/slab.h:737 slab_alloc_node mm/slub.c:3398 [inline] slab_alloc mm/slub.c:3406 [inline] __kmem_cache_alloc_lru mm/slub.c:3413 [inline] kmem_cache_alloc_lru+0x104/0x220 mm/slub.c:3429 alloc_inode_sb include/linux/fs.h:3245 [inline] f2fs_alloc_inode+0x2d/0x340 fs/f2fs/super.c:1419 alloc_inode fs/inode.c:261 [inline] iget_locked+0x186/0x880 fs/inode.c:1373 f2fs_iget+0x55/0x4c60 fs/f2fs/inode.c:483 f2fs_lookup+0x366/0xab0 fs/f2fs/namei.c:487 __lookup_slow+0x2a3/0x3d0 fs/namei.c:1690 lookup_slow+0x57/0x70 fs/namei.c:1707 walk_component+0x2e6/0x410 fs/namei ---truncated---

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2025-38577 since 04/16/2025. The exploitation is known to be easy. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 01/09/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 276629 (Ubuntu 24.04 LTS / 25.04 : Linux kernel vulnerabilities (USN-7879-1)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.1.148, 6.6.102, 6.12.42, 6.15.10, 6.16.1 or 6.17-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 4732ca17c17f5062426cfa982f43593e6b81963b/880ef748e78a1eb7df2d8e11a9ef21e98bcaabe5/97df495d754116c8c28ac6a4112f831727bde887/9bbfe83924946552c4c513099c0e8c83af76311a/42f9ea16aea8b49febaa87950a006a1792209f38/a509a55f8eecc8970b3980c6f06886bbff0e2f68 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 (276629) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-1869). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Affected

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

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 6.8
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 6.6

VulDB Base Score: 8.0
VulDB Temp Score: 7.6
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 5.5
NVD Vector: 🔒

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
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VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Use after free
CWE: CWE-416 / CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Partially

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-DayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
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Nessus ID: 276629
Nessus Name: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS / 25.04 : Linux kernel vulnerabilities (USN-7879-1)

Threat Intelligenceinfo

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

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.1.148/6.6.102/6.12.42/6.15.10/6.16.1/6.17-rc1
Patch: 4732ca17c17f5062426cfa982f43593e6b81963b/880ef748e78a1eb7df2d8e11a9ef21e98bcaabe5/97df495d754116c8c28ac6a4112f831727bde887/9bbfe83924946552c4c513099c0e8c83af76311a/42f9ea16aea8b49febaa87950a006a1792209f38/a509a55f8eecc8970b3980c6f06886bbff0e2f68

Timelineinfo

04/16/2025 CVE reserved
08/19/2025 +125 days Advisory disclosed
08/19/2025 +0 days VulDB entry created
01/09/2026 +143 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2025-38577 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2025-38577
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-320585
CERT Bund: WID-SEC-2025-1869 - Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen

Entryinfo

Created: 08/19/2025 19:24
Updated: 01/09/2026 16:17
Changes: 08/19/2025 19:24 (58), 09/23/2025 05:48 (7), 09/24/2025 19:41 (1), 10/27/2025 00:25 (1), 11/01/2025 12:35 (1), 11/25/2025 04:40 (2), 12/15/2025 22:58 (1), 01/09/2026 16:17 (13)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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