CVE-2025-40237: fs/notify: call exportfs_encode_fid with s_umount

Published Dec 4, 2025
·
Updated

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

fs/notify: call exportfsencodefid with sumount

Calling intotifyshowfdinfo() on fd watching an overlayfs inode, while the overlayfs is being unmounted, can lead to dereferencing NULL ptr.

This issue was found by syzkaller.

Race Condition Diagram:

Thread 1 Thread 2 -------- --------

genericshutdownsuper() shrinkdcacheforumount sb->sroot = NULL

| | vfsread() | inotifyfdinfo() | inode get from mark | showmarkfhandle(m, inode) | exportfsencodefid(inode, ..) | ovlencodefh(inode, ..) | ovlcheckencodeorigin(inode) | deref isb->sroot | | v fsnotifysbdelete(sb)

Which then leads to:

[ 32.133461] Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000006: 0000 [#1] SMP DEBUGPAGEALLOC KASAN NOPTI [ 32.134438] KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000030-0x0000000000000037] [ 32.135032] CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 4468 Comm: systemd-coredum Not tainted 6.17.0-rc6 #22 PREEMPT(none)

<snip registers, unreliable trace>

[ 32.143353] Call Trace: [ 32.143732] ovlencodefh+0xd5/0x170 [ 32.144031] exportfsencodeinodefh+0x12f/0x300 [ 32.144425] showmarkfhandle+0xbe/0x1f0 [ 32.145805] inotifyfdinfo+0x226/0x2d0 [ 32.146442] inotifyshowfdinfo+0x1c5/0x350 [ 32.147168] seqshow+0x530/0x6f0 [ 32.147449] seqreaditer+0x503/0x12a0 [ 32.148419] seqread+0x31f/0x410 [ 32.150714] vfsread+0x1f0/0x9e0 [ 32.152297] ksysread+0x125/0x240

IOW ovlcheckencodeorigin derefs inode->isb->sroot, after it was set to NULL in the unmount path.

Fix it by protecting calling exportfsencodefid() from showmarkfhandle() with sumount lock.

This form of fix was suggested by Amir in [1].

[1]: https://lore.kernel.org/all/CAOQ4uxhbDwhb+2Brs1UdkoF0a3NSdBAOQPNfEHjahrgoKJpLEw@mail.gmail.com/

Affected Software

148 affected componentsFixes available
Linux Kernel
ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge*
ubuntu/linux-aws-5.0*
ubuntu/linux-aws-5.3*
ubuntu/linux-azure*
ubuntu/linux-azure-5.3*
ubuntu/linux-azure-edge*
ubuntu/linux-gcp*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.3*
ubuntu/linux-gke-4.15*
ubuntu/linux-gke-5.4*
ubuntu/linux-gkeop-5.4*
ubuntu/linux-hwe*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge*
ubuntu/linux-oem*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.0*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.3*
ubuntu/linux-aws-5.11*
ubuntu/linux-aws-5.13*
ubuntu/linux-aws-5.8*
ubuntu/linux-azure-5.11*
ubuntu/linux-azure-5.13*
ubuntu/linux-azure-5.8*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.11*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.13*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.8*
ubuntu/linux-gke*
ubuntu/linux-gke-5.15*
ubuntu/linux-gkeop*
ubuntu/linux-gkeop-5.15*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.11*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.13*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.8*
ubuntu/linux-intel-5.13*
ubuntu/linux-oem-5.10*
ubuntu/linux-oem-5.13*
ubuntu/linux-oem-5.6*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.11*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.13*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.8*
ubuntu/linux-raspi2*
ubuntu/linux-riscv*
ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.11*
ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.8*
ubuntu/linux-allwinner-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-aws-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-aws-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-aws-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-aws-6.8<6.8.0-1050.53~22.04.1
6.8.0-1050.53~22.04.1
ubuntu/linux-azure-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-azure-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-azure-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-azure-6.8<6.8.0-1051.57~22.04.1
6.8.0-1051.57~22.04.1
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.8<6.8.0-1058.65~22.04.1
6.8.0-1058.65~22.04.1
ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.8<6.8.0-1052.55~22.04.1
6.8.0-1052.55~22.04.1
ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.8<6.8.0-106.106~22.04.1
6.8.0-106.106~22.04.1
ubuntu/linux-ibm-6.8<6.8.0-1049.49~22.04.1
6.8.0-1049.49~22.04.1
ubuntu/linux-intel-iot-realtime*
ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8<6.8.0-106.106.1~22.04.1
6.8.0-106.106.1~22.04.1
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.8<6.8.0-1049.52~22.04.1
6.8.0-1049.52~22.04.1
ubuntu/linux-oem-5.17*
ubuntu/linux-oem-6.0*
ubuntu/linux-oem-6.1*
ubuntu/linux-oem-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.8<6.8.0-1047.48~22.04.1
6.8.0-1047.48~22.04.1
ubuntu/linux-realtime*
ubuntu/linux-riscv*
ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.8<6.8.0-106.106~22.04.1
6.8.0-106.106~22.04.1
ubuntu/linux-starfive-5.19*
ubuntu/linux-starfive-6.2*
ubuntu/linux-starfive-6.5*
ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.8<6.8.1-1045.46~22.04.1
6.8.1-1045.46~22.04.1
ubuntu/linux<6.8.0-106.106
6.8.0-106.106
ubuntu/linux-aws<6.8.0-1050.53
6.8.0-1050.53
ubuntu/linux-aws-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-aws-6.17<6.17.0-1007.7~24.04.1
6.17.0-1007.7~24.04.1
ubuntu/linux-azure<6.8.0-1051.57
6.8.0-1051.57
ubuntu/linux-azure-6.11*
ubuntu/linux-azure-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde<6.8.0-1058.65
6.8.0-1058.65
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-azure-nvidia<6.8.0-1039.42
6.8.0-1039.42
ubuntu/linux-azure-nvidia-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-gcp<6.8.0-1052.55
6.8.0-1052.55
ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.11*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.17<6.17.0-1008.8~24.04.1
6.17.0-1008.8~24.04.1
ubuntu/linux-gke<6.8.0-1048.53
6.8.0-1048.53
ubuntu/linux-gkeop<6.8.0-1035.38
6.8.0-1035.38
ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.11*
ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-ibm<6.8.0-1049.49
6.8.0-1049.49
ubuntu/linux-lowlatency<6.8.0-106.106.1
6.8.0-106.106.1
ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia<6.8.0-1049.52
6.8.0-1049.52
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.11*
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.17<6.17.0-1008.8
6.17.0-1008.8
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-lowlatency<6.8.0-1049.52.1
6.8.0-1049.52.1
ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra<6.8.0-1020.20
6.8.0-1020.20
ubuntu/linux-oem-6.11*
ubuntu/linux-oem-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-oem-6.17<6.17.0-1011.11
6.17.0-1011.11
ubuntu/linux-oem-6.8*
ubuntu/linux-oracle<6.8.0-1047.48
6.8.0-1047.48
ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.17<6.17.0-1007.7~24.04.1
6.17.0-1007.7~24.04.1
ubuntu/linux-raspi<6.8.0-1050.54
6.8.0-1050.54
ubuntu/linux-raspi-realtime*
ubuntu/linux-realtime*
ubuntu/linux-riscv*
ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-xilinx<6.8.0-1028.29
6.8.0-1028.29
ubuntu/linux-bluefield<6.8.0-1017.21
6.8.0-1017.21
ubuntu/linux-raspi-realtime<6.8.0-2040.41
6.8.0-2040.41
ubuntu/linux-realtime<6.8.1-1045.46
6.8.1-1045.46
ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.14*
ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.17<6.17.0-1006.7~24.04.1
6.17.0-1006.7~24.04.1
ubuntu/linux-aws-fips<6.8.0-1050.53+fips1
6.8.0-1050.53+fips1
ubuntu/linux-azure-fips<6.8.0-1052.58+fips1
6.8.0-1052.58+fips1
ubuntu/linux-fips<6.8.0-106.106+fips1
6.8.0-106.106+fips1
ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips<6.8.0-1052.55+fips1
6.8.0-1052.55+fips1
ubuntu/linux<6.17.0-14.14
6.17.0-14.14
ubuntu/linux-aws<6.17.0-1007.7
6.17.0-1007.7
ubuntu/linux-azure<6.17.0-1008.8
6.17.0-1008.8
ubuntu/linux-azure-fde*
ubuntu/linux-gcp<6.17.0-1007.7
6.17.0-1007.7
ubuntu/linux-oracle<6.17.0-1007.7
6.17.0-1007.7
ubuntu/linux-raspi<6.17.0-1008.8
6.17.0-1008.8
ubuntu/linux-realtime<6.17.0-1006.7
6.17.0-1006.7
ubuntu/linux-riscv<6.17.0-14.14.1
6.17.0-14.14.1
ubuntu/linux-vmware*

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

  1. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-1050.53~22.04.1
  2. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-1051.57~22.04.1
  3. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-1058.65~22.04.1
  4. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-1052.55~22.04.1
  5. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-106.106~22.04.1
  6. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-ibm-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-1049.49~22.04.1
  7. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-106.106.1~22.04.1
  8. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-1049.52~22.04.1
  9. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-1047.48~22.04.1
  10. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-106.106~22.04.1
  11. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.8 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.1-1045.46~22.04.1
  12. Upgrade

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

    Fixed in 6.8.0-106.106
  13. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-1050.53
  14. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.17.0-1007.7~24.04.1
  15. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-1051.57
  16. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-fde to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-1058.65
  17. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-nvidia to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-1039.42
  18. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-1052.55
  19. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.17.0-1008.8~24.04.1
  20. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gke to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-1048.53
  21. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gkeop to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-1035.38
  22. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-ibm to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-1049.49
  23. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-lowlatency to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-106.106.1
  24. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-1049.52
  25. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.17.0-1008.8
  26. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia-lowlatency to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-1049.52.1
  27. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-1020.20
  28. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oem-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.17.0-1011.11
  29. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-1047.48
  30. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.17.0-1007.7~24.04.1
  31. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-raspi to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-1050.54
  32. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-xilinx to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-1028.29
  33. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-bluefield to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-1017.21
  34. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-raspi-realtime to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-2040.41
  35. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-realtime to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.1-1045.46
  36. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.17 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.17.0-1006.7~24.04.1
  37. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws-fips to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-1050.53+fips1
  38. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure-fips to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-1052.58+fips1
  39. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-fips to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-106.106+fips1
  40. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.8.0-1052.55+fips1
  41. Upgrade

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

    Fixed in 6.17.0-14.14
  42. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.17.0-1007.7
  43. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-azure to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.17.0-1008.8
  44. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.17.0-1007.7
  45. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.17.0-1007.7
  46. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-raspi to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.17.0-1008.8
  47. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-realtime to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.17.0-1006.7
  48. Upgrade

    Upgrade ubuntu/linux-riscv to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.17.0-14.14.1
  49. Compensating control

    Protect the call to exportfs_encode_fid() from show_mark_fhandle() with the s_umount lock, preventing overlayfs inode access during unmount.

Event History

Dec 4, 2025
CVE Published
via MITRE·03:31 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·03:31 PM
Description
Data Sourced
via Red Hat·04:02 PM
DescriptionSeverityAffected Software
Data Sourced
via OSV·04:16 PM
DescriptionSeverityAffected Software
Data Sourced
via NVD·04:16 PM
Description

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of CVE-2025-40237?

CVE-2025-40237 has a high severity rating due to potential system crashes and data corruption.

2

How do I fix CVE-2025-40237?

To fix CVE-2025-40237, update your Linux kernel to the latest version that patches this vulnerability.

3

What are the potential impacts of CVE-2025-40237?

The potential impacts of CVE-2025-40237 include possible system instability and denial of service due to NULL pointer dereferencing.

4

Which versions of Linux are affected by CVE-2025-40237?

CVE-2025-40237 affects multiple versions of the Linux kernel, particularly those prior to the patch release.

5

Is CVE-2025-40237 actively being exploited?

As of now, there is no public information indicating that CVE-2025-40237 is being actively exploited in the wild.

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