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GHSA-M9FQ-G2M8-9P75

Vulnerability from github – Published: 2025-07-04 15:31 – Updated: 2025-11-18 15:30

Details

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ext4: only dirty folios when data journaling regular files

fstest generic/388 occasionally reproduces a crash that looks as follows:

BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 ... Call Trace: ext4_block_zero_page_range+0x30c/0x380 [ext4] ext4_truncate+0x436/0x440 [ext4] ext4_process_orphan+0x5d/0x110 [ext4] ext4_orphan_cleanup+0x124/0x4f0 [ext4] ext4_fill_super+0x262d/0x3110 [ext4] get_tree_bdev_flags+0x132/0x1d0 vfs_get_tree+0x26/0xd0 vfs_cmd_create+0x59/0xe0 __do_sys_fsconfig+0x4ed/0x6b0 do_syscall_64+0x82/0x170 ...

This occurs when processing a symlink inode from the orphan list. The partial block zeroing code in the truncate path calls ext4_dirty_journalled_data() -> folio_mark_dirty(). The latter calls mapping->a_ops->dirty_folio(), but symlink inodes are not assigned an a_ops vector in ext4, hence the crash.

To avoid this problem, update the ext4_dirty_journalled_data() helper to only mark the folio dirty on regular files (for which a_ops is assigned). This also matches the journaling logic in the ext4_symlink() creation path, where ext4_handle_dirty_metadata() is called directly.

Severity

5.5 (Medium)


                  
                    CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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{
  "affected": [],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2025-38220"
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "cwe_ids": [
      "CWE-476"
    ],
    "github_reviewed": false,
    "github_reviewed_at": null,
    "nvd_published_at": "2025-07-04T14:15:30Z",
    "severity": "MODERATE"
  },
  "details": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\next4: only dirty folios when data journaling regular files\n\nfstest generic/388 occasionally reproduces a crash that looks as\nfollows:\n\nBUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000\n...\nCall Trace:\n \u003cTASK\u003e\n ext4_block_zero_page_range+0x30c/0x380 [ext4]\n ext4_truncate+0x436/0x440 [ext4]\n ext4_process_orphan+0x5d/0x110 [ext4]\n ext4_orphan_cleanup+0x124/0x4f0 [ext4]\n ext4_fill_super+0x262d/0x3110 [ext4]\n get_tree_bdev_flags+0x132/0x1d0\n vfs_get_tree+0x26/0xd0\n vfs_cmd_create+0x59/0xe0\n __do_sys_fsconfig+0x4ed/0x6b0\n do_syscall_64+0x82/0x170\n ...\n\nThis occurs when processing a symlink inode from the orphan list. The\npartial block zeroing code in the truncate path calls\next4_dirty_journalled_data() -\u003e folio_mark_dirty(). The latter calls\nmapping-\u003ea_ops-\u003edirty_folio(), but symlink inodes are not assigned an\na_ops vector in ext4, hence the crash.\n\nTo avoid this problem, update the ext4_dirty_journalled_data() helper to\nonly mark the folio dirty on regular files (for which a_ops is\nassigned). This also matches the journaling logic in the ext4_symlink()\ncreation path, where ext4_handle_dirty_metadata() is called directly.",
  "id": "GHSA-m9fq-g2m8-9p75",
  "modified": "2025-11-18T15:30:40Z",
  "published": "2025-07-04T15:31:10Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38220"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/be5f3061a6f904e3674257879e71881ceee5b673"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cf6a4c4ac7b6e3214f25df594c9689a62f1bb456"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d7af6eee8cd60f55aa8c5fe2b91f11ec0c9a0f27"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e26268ff1dcae5662c1b96c35f18cfa6ab73d9de"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.4.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    }
  ]
}

CVE-2025-38220 (GCVE-0-2025-38220)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2025-07-04 13:37 – Updated: 2026-05-11 21:23

Title

ext4: only dirty folios when data journaling regular files

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: only dirty folios when data journaling regular files fstest generic/388 occasionally reproduces a crash that looks as follows: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 ... Call Trace: <TASK> ext4_block_zero_page_range+0x30c/0x380 [ext4] ext4_truncate+0x436/0x440 [ext4] ext4_process_orphan+0x5d/0x110 [ext4] ext4_orphan_cleanup+0x124/0x4f0 [ext4] ext4_fill_super+0x262d/0x3110 [ext4] get_tree_bdev_flags+0x132/0x1d0 vfs_get_tree+0x26/0xd0 vfs_cmd_create+0x59/0xe0 __do_sys_fsconfig+0x4ed/0x6b0 do_syscall_64+0x82/0x170 ... This occurs when processing a symlink inode from the orphan list. The partial block zeroing code in the truncate path calls ext4_dirty_journalled_data() -> folio_mark_dirty(). The latter calls mapping->a_ops->dirty_folio(), but symlink inodes are not assigned an a_ops vector in ext4, hence the crash. To avoid this problem, update the ext4_dirty_journalled_data() helper to only mark the folio dirty on regular files (for which a_ops is assigned). This also matches the journaling logic in the ext4_symlink() creation path, where ext4_handle_dirty_metadata() is called directly.

Severity

No CVSS data available.

Assigner

Linux mitre root

References

4 references

URL	Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cf6a4c4ac7b6e3214…
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/be5f3061a6f904e36…
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d7af6eee8cd60f55a…
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e26268ff1dcae5662…

Impacted products

2 products

Vendor	Product	Version
Linux	Linux	Affected: d84c9ebdac1e39bc7b036c0c829ee8c1956edabc , < cf6a4c4ac7b6e3214f25df594c9689a62f1bb456 (git) Affected: d84c9ebdac1e39bc7b036c0c829ee8c1956edabc , < be5f3061a6f904e3674257879e71881ceee5b673 (git) Affected: d84c9ebdac1e39bc7b036c0c829ee8c1956edabc , < d7af6eee8cd60f55aa8c5fe2b91f11ec0c9a0f27 (git) Affected: d84c9ebdac1e39bc7b036c0c829ee8c1956edabc , < e26268ff1dcae5662c1b96c35f18cfa6ab73d9de (git)
Linux	Linux	Affected: 6.4 Unaffected: 0 , < 6.4 (semver) Unaffected: 6.6.95 , ≤ 6.6.* (semver) Unaffected: 6.12.35 , ≤ 6.12.* (semver) Unaffected: 6.15.4 , ≤ 6.15.* (semver) Unaffected: 6.16 , ≤ * (original_commit_for_fix)

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{
  "containers": {
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        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
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          "programFiles": [
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          "versions": [
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              "versionType": "semver"
            },
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        }
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      "cpeApplicability": [
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                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
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                  "versionStartIncluding": "6.4",
                  "vulnerable": true
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                {
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        }
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    "datePublished": "2025-07-04T13:37:36.612Z",
    "dateReserved": "2025-04-16T04:51:23.995Z",
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    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
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}

Sightings

Author	Source	Type	Date	Other

Nomenclature

Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.

Detection rules are retrieved from Rulezet.

The MITRE ATT&CK techniques below are AI-generated suggestions, inferred from the description of the vulnerability by the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-classification-roberta-base model, served locally by ML-Gateway. They have not been verified by an analyst and are provided for guidance only.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.
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