Linux Kernel up to 6.6.113/6.12.53/6.17.3 kernel/workqueue.c quota_release_work denial of service

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.113/6.12.53/6.17.3. This impacts the function quota_release_work of the file kernel/workqueue.c. Such manipulation leads to denial of service. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2025-40196. There is no exploit available. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.113/6.12.53/6.17.3. Affected by this issue is the function quota_release_work of the file kernel/workqueue.c. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a denial of service vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-404. The product does not release or incorrectly releases a resource before it is made available for re-use. Impacted is availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs: quota: create dedicated workqueue for quota_release_work There is a kernel panic due to WARN_ONCE when panic_on_warn is set. This issue occurs when writeback is triggered due to sync call for an opened file(ie, writeback reason is WB_REASON_SYNC). When f2fs balance is needed at sync path, flush for quota_release_work is triggered. By default quota_release_work is queued to "events_unbound" queue which does not have WQ_MEM_RECLAIM flag. During f2fs balance "writeback" workqueue tries to flush quota_release_work causing kernel panic due to MEM_RECLAIM flag mismatch errors. This patch creates dedicated workqueue with WQ_MEM_RECLAIM flag for work quota_release_work. ------------[ cut here ]------------ WARNING: CPU: 4 PID: 14867 at kernel/workqueue.c:3721 check_flush_dependency+0x13c/0x148 Call trace: check_flush_dependency+0x13c/0x148 __flush_work+0xd0/0x398 flush_delayed_work+0x44/0x5c dquot_writeback_dquots+0x54/0x318 f2fs_do_quota_sync+0xb8/0x1a8 f2fs_write_checkpoint+0x3cc/0x99c f2fs_gc+0x190/0x750 f2fs_balance_fs+0x110/0x168 f2fs_write_single_data_page+0x474/0x7dc f2fs_write_data_pages+0x7d0/0xd0c do_writepages+0xe0/0x2f4 __writeback_single_inode+0x44/0x4ac writeback_sb_inodes+0x30c/0x538 wb_writeback+0xf4/0x440 wb_workfn+0x128/0x5d4 process_scheduled_works+0x1c4/0x45c worker_thread+0x32c/0x3e8 kthread+0x11c/0x1b0 ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 Kernel panic - not syncing: kernel: panic_on_warn set ...

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2025-40196 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 275347 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-40196), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.6.114, 6.12.54, 6.17.4 or 6.18-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch f846eacde280ecc3daedfe001580e3033565179e/f12039df1515d5daf7d92e586ece5cefeb39561b/8a09a62f0c8c6123c2f1864ed6d5f9eb144afaf0/72b7ceca857f38a8ca7c5629feffc63769638974 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 (275347) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2595). 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
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• RESF Rocky Linux

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.6.113
• 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
• 6.12.34
• 6.12.35
• 6.12.36
• 6.12.37
• 6.12.38
• 6.12.39
• 6.12.40
• 6.12.41
• 6.12.42
• 6.12.43
• 6.12.44
• 6.12.45
• 6.12.46
• 6.12.47
• 6.12.48
• 6.12.49
• 6.12.50
• 6.12.51
• 6.12.52
• 6.12.53
• 6.17.0
• 6.17.1
• 6.17.2
• 6.17.3

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Discussion