CVE-2025-39723: netfs: Fix unbuffered write error handling

Published Sep 5, 2025
·
Updated

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

netfs: Fix unbuffered write error handling

If all the subrequests in an unbuffered write stream fail, the subrequest collector doesn't update the stream->transferred value and it retains its initial LONGMAX value. Unfortunately, if all active streams fail, then we take the smallest value of { LONGMAX, LONGMAX, ... } as the value to set in wreq->transferred - which is then returned from ->writeiter().

LONGMAX was chosen as the initial value so that all the streams can be quickly assessed by taking the smallest value of all stream->transferred - but this only works if we've set any of them.

Fix this by adding a flag to indicate whether the value in stream->transferred is valid and checking that when we integrate the values. stream->transferred can then be initialised to zero.

This was found by running the generic/750 xfstest against cifs with cache=none. It splices data to the target file. Once (if) it has used up all the available scratch space, the writes start failing with ENOSPC. This causes ->writeiter() to fail. However, it was returning wreq->transferred, i.e. LONGMAX, rather than an error (because it thought the amount transferred was non-zero) and iterfilesplicewrite() would then try to clean up that amount of pipe bufferage - leading to an oops when it overran. The kernel log showed:

CIFS: VFS: Send error in write = -28

followed by:

BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000008

with:

RIP: 0010:iterfilesplicewrite+0x3a4/0x520 dosplice+0x197/0x4e0

or:

RIP: 0010:pipebufrelease (include/linux/pipefsi.h:282) iterfilesplicewrite (fs/splice.c:755)

Also put a warning check into splice to announce if ->writeiter() returned that it had written more than it was asked to.

Affected Software

6 affected componentsFixes available
Linux Linux kernel
Linux Linux kernel>=6.10<6.12.44
Linux Linux kernel>=6.13<6.16.4
Linux Linux kernel=6.17-rc1
Linux Linux kernel=6.17-rc2
debian/linux
6.1.176-16.1.190-16.12.107-16.12.113-17.2.12-17.2.13-1

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

  1. Upgrade

    Upgrade debian/linux to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.1.176-1Fixed in 6.1.190-1Fixed in 6.12.107-1Fixed in 6.12.113-1Fixed in 7.2.12-1Fixed in 7.2.13-1

Event History

Sep 5, 2025
CVE Published
via MITRE·05:21 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·05:21 PM
DescriptionSeverity
Data Sourced
via NVD·06:15 PM
RemedyDescriptionSeverityWeaknessAffected Software

Parent advisories

This vulnerability appears in the following advisories.

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of CVE-2025-39723?

CVE-2025-39723 is considered a medium severity vulnerability in the Linux kernel.

2

What issue does CVE-2025-39723 address?

CVE-2025-39723 addresses an unbuffered write error handling issue in the netfs component of the Linux kernel.

3

How do I fix CVE-2025-39723?

To fix CVE-2025-39723, you should update your Linux kernel to the latest stable version that includes the patch.

4

Which versions of the Linux kernel are affected by CVE-2025-39723?

CVE-2025-39723 affects all versions of the Linux kernel prior to the patch release that resolves this issue.

5

Is CVE-2025-39723 a remote vulnerability?

CVE-2025-39723 is not explicitly classified as a remote vulnerability, but it could be exploited in certain networked scenarios.

Contact

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