CVE-2025-71201: netfs: Fix early read unlock of page with EOF in middle

Published Feb 14, 2026
·
Updated

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

netfs: Fix early read unlock of page with EOF in middle

The read result collection for buffered reads seems to run ahead of the completion of subrequests under some circumstances, as can be seen in the following log snippet:

9pclientres: client 18446612686390831168 response P9TREAD tag 0 err 0 ... netfssreq: R=00001b55[1] DOWN TERM f=192 s=0 5fb2/5fb2 s=5 e=0 ... netfscollectfolio: R=00001b55 ix=00004 r=4000-5000 t=4000/5fb2 netfsfolio: i=157f3 ix=00004-00004 read-done netfsfolio: i=157f3 ix=00004-00004 read-unlock netfscollectfolio: R=00001b55 ix=00005 r=5000-5fb2 t=5000/5fb2 netfsfolio: i=157f3 ix=00005-00005 read-done netfsfolio: i=157f3 ix=00005-00005 read-unlock ... netfscollectstream: R=00001b55[0:] cto=5fb2 frn=ffffffff netfscollectstate: R=00001b55 col=5fb2 cln=6000 n=c netfscollectstream: R=00001b55[0:] cto=5fb2 frn=ffffffff netfscollectstate: R=00001b55 col=5fb2 cln=6000 n=8 ... netfssreq: R=00001b55[2] ZERO SUBMT f=000 s=5fb2 0/4e s=0 e=0 netfssreq: R=00001b55[2] ZERO TERM f=102 s=5fb2 4e/4e s=5 e=0

The 'cto=5fb2' indicates the collected file pos we've collected results to so far - but we still have 0x4e more bytes to go - so we shouldn't have collected folio ix=00005 yet. The 'ZERO' subreq that clears the tail happens after we unlock the folio, allowing the application to see the uncleared tail through mmap.

The problem is that netfsreadunlockfolios() will unlock a folio in which the amount of read results collected hits EOF position - but the ZERO subreq lies beyond that and so happens after.

Fix this by changing the end check to always be the end of the folio and never the end of the file.

In the future, I should look at clearing to the end of the folio here rather than adding a ZERO subreq to do this. On the other hand, the ZERO subreq can run in parallel with an async READ subreq. Further, the ZERO subreq may still be necessary to, say, handle extents in a ceph file that don't have any backing store and are thus implicitly all zeros.

This can be reproduced by creating a file, the size of which doesn't align to a page boundary, e.g. 24998 (0x5fb2) bytes and then doing something like:

xfsio -c "mmap -r 0 0x6000" -c "madvise -d 0 0x6000" \ -c "mread -v 0 0x6000" /xfstest.test/x

The last 0x4e bytes should all be 00, but if the tail hasn't been cleared yet, you may see rubbish there. This can be reproduced with kafs by modifying the kernel to disable the call to netfsreadsubreqprogress() and to stop afsissueread() from doing the async call for NETFSREADAHEAD. Reproduction can be made easier by inserting an mdelay(100) in netfsissueread() for the ZERO-subreq case.

AFS and CIFS are normally unlikely to show this as they dispatch READ ops asynchronously, which allows the ZERO-subreq to finish first. 9P's READ op is completely synchronous, so the ZERO-subreq will always happen after. It isn't seen all the time, though, because the collection may be done in a worker thread.

Affected Software

6 affected components
Linux Kernel
Linux Linux kernel>=6.14<6.18.6
Linux Linux kernel=6.19-rc1
Linux Linux kernel=6.19-rc2
Linux Linux kernel=6.19-rc3
Linux Linux kernel=6.19-rc4

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

  1. Upgrade

    Upgrade Linux kernel to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Patch netfs: Fix early read unlock of page with EOF in middle
  2. Configuration

    Modify the kernel to disable the call to netfs_read_subreq_progress() to prevent early read unlock of a folio/page with EOF in the middle.

    Linux kernel netfs netfs_read_subreq_progress() call = disabled
  3. Compensating control

    If you need to mitigate timing/ordering issues, stop afs_issue_read() from doing the async call for NETFS_READAHEAD so the ZERO subreq (tail clearing) finishes after collection and unlocking events under some circumstances.

Event History

Feb 14, 2026
CVE Published
via MITRE·03:22 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·03:22 PM
DescriptionSeverity
Data Sourced
via NVD·04:15 PM
RemedyDescriptionSeverityWeaknessAffected Software

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of CVE-2025-71201?

CVE-2025-71201 is classified as a medium severity vulnerability in the Linux kernel.

2

How do I fix CVE-2025-71201?

To fix CVE-2025-71201, you should update your Linux kernel to the patched version provided by your distribution.

3

What are the potential impacts of CVE-2025-71201?

CVE-2025-71201 could potentially lead to data corruption or denial of service due to improper handling of pages with end-of-file.

4

Which versions of the Linux kernel are affected by CVE-2025-71201?

CVE-2025-71201 affects specific versions of the Linux kernel prior to the fix implementation.

5

Is CVE-2025-71201 present in all Linux kernel distributions?

CVE-2025-71201 may not be present in all Linux kernel distributions, but it is important to verify your version.

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