Linux Kernel up to 6.16.0 hfsplus fs/hfsplus/extents.c hfsplus_free_extents deadlock

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.
5.0$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability has been 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. Affected by this vulnerability is the function hfsplus_free_extents of the file fs/hfsplus/extents.c of the component hfsplus. This manipulation causes deadlock. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2025-38650. There is no exploit available. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been 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. Affected by this vulnerability is the function hfsplus_free_extents of the file fs/hfsplus/extents.c of the component hfsplus. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a deadlock vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-833. The product contains multiple threads or executable segments that are waiting for each other to release a necessary lock, resulting in deadlock. As an impact it is known to affect availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: hfsplus: remove mutex_lock check in hfsplus_free_extents Syzbot reported an issue in hfsplus filesystem: ------------[ cut here ]------------ WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 4400 at fs/hfsplus/extents.c:346 hfsplus_free_extents+0x700/0xad0 Call Trace: <TASK> hfsplus_file_truncate+0x768/0xbb0 fs/hfsplus/extents.c:606 hfsplus_write_begin+0xc2/0xd0 fs/hfsplus/inode.c:56 cont_expand_zero fs/buffer.c:2383 [inline] cont_write_begin+0x2cf/0x860 fs/buffer.c:2446 hfsplus_write_begin+0x86/0xd0 fs/hfsplus/inode.c:52 generic_cont_expand_simple+0x151/0x250 fs/buffer.c:2347 hfsplus_setattr+0x168/0x280 fs/hfsplus/inode.c:263 notify_change+0xe38/0x10f0 fs/attr.c:420 do_truncate+0x1fb/0x2e0 fs/open.c:65 do_sys_ftruncate+0x2eb/0x380 fs/open.c:193 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x3d/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd To avoid deadlock, Commit 31651c607151 ("hfsplus: avoid deadlock on file truncation") unlock extree before hfsplus_free_extents(), and add check wheather extree is locked in hfsplus_free_extents(). However, when operations such as hfsplus_file_release, hfsplus_setattr, hfsplus_unlink, and hfsplus_get_block are executed concurrently in different files, it is very likely to trigger the WARN_ON, which will lead syzbot and xfstest to consider it as an abnormality. The comment above this warning also describes one of the easy triggering situations, which can easily trigger and cause xfstest&syzbot to report errors. [task A] [task B] ->hfsplus_file_release ->hfsplus_file_truncate ->hfs_find_init ->mutex_lock ->mutex_unlock ->hfsplus_write_begin ->hfsplus_get_block ->hfsplus_file_extend ->hfsplus_ext_read_extent ->hfs_find_init ->mutex_lock ->hfsplus_free_extents WARN_ON(mutex_is_locked) !!! Several threads could try to lock the shared extents tree. And warning can be triggered in one thread when another thread has locked the tree. This is the wrong behavior of the code and we need to remove the warning.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2025-38650 since 04/16/2025. The exploitation appears to be difficult. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 260269 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-38650), 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 a19ce9230b22a0866313932e7964cf05557a6008/084933961ecda7561dedfb78c4676ccb90c91ada/5055b7db94110f228961dea6b74eed0a93a50b01/9764b8bb9f5f94df105cd2ac43829dd0d2c82b9f/314310166ba1fdff7660dfd9d18ea42d7058f7ae/fcb96956c921f1aae7e7b477f2435c56f77a31b4 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 (260269) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-1898). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Affected

  • Debian Linux
  • Google Cloud Platform
  • Amazon Linux 2
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux
  • Ubuntu Linux
  • SUSE Linux
  • Oracle Linux
  • NetApp AFF
  • NetApp ActiveIQ Unified Manager
  • SUSE openSUSE
  • Dell Avamar
  • NetApp FAS
  • Open Source Linux Kernel
  • Dell NetWorker
  • Dell Secure Connect Gateway
  • Dell ECS

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 5.1
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 5.0

VulDB Base Score: 4.8
VulDB Temp Score: 4.6
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 5.5
NVD Vector: 🔒

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

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

Exploitinginfo

Class: Deadlock
CWE: CWE-833 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Partially

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-DayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
TodayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

Nessus ID: 260269
Nessus Name: Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-38650

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: a19ce9230b22a0866313932e7964cf05557a6008/084933961ecda7561dedfb78c4676ccb90c91ada/5055b7db94110f228961dea6b74eed0a93a50b01/9764b8bb9f5f94df105cd2ac43829dd0d2c82b9f/314310166ba1fdff7660dfd9d18ea42d7058f7ae/fcb96956c921f1aae7e7b477f2435c56f77a31b4

Timelineinfo

04/16/2025 CVE reserved
08/22/2025 +128 days Advisory disclosed
08/22/2025 +0 days VulDB entry created
05/29/2026 +280 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2025-38650 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2025-38650
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-321079
CERT Bund: WID-SEC-2025-1898 - Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen erm&ouml;glichen Denial of Service und Privilegieneskalation

Entryinfo

Created: 08/22/2025 23:29
Updated: 05/29/2026 02:30
Changes: 08/22/2025 23:29 (60), 09/02/2025 16:51 (2), 09/22/2025 03:10 (7), 10/18/2025 03:16 (1), 10/26/2025 08:46 (1), 12/13/2025 06:28 (1), 01/07/2026 19:26 (13), 02/13/2026 22:46 (1), 05/29/2026 02:30 (3)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Discussion

No comments yet. Languages: en.

Please log in to comment.

◂ PreviousOverviewNext ▸

Are you interested in using VulDB?

Download the whitepaper to learn more about our service!