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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-37774

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.12.25 / 6.14.4 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: slab: ensure slab->obj_exts is clear in a newly allocated slab page ktest recently reported crashes while running several buffered io tests with __alloc_tagging_slab_alloc_hook() at the top of the crash call stack. The signature indicates an invalid address dereference with low bits of slab->obj_exts being set. The bits were outside of the range used by page_memcg_data_flags and objext_flags and hence were not masked out by slab_obj_exts() when obtaining the pointer stored in slab->obj_exts. The typical crash log looks like this: 00510 Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000010 00510 Mem abort info: 00510 ESR = 0x0000000096000045 00510 EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits 00510 SET = 0, FnV = 0 00510 EA = 0, S1PTW = 0 00510 FSC = 0x05: level 1 translation fault 00510 Data abort info: 00510 ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000045, ISS2 = 0x00000000 00510 CM = 0, WnR = 1, TnD = 0, TagAccess = 0 00510 GCS = 0, Overlay = 0, DirtyBit = 0, Xs = 0 00510 user pgtable: 4k pages, 39-bit VAs, pgdp=0000000104175000 00510 [0000000000000010] pgd=0000000000000000, p4d=0000000000000000, pud=0000000000000000 00510 Internal error: Oops: 0000000096000045 [#1] SMP 00510 Modules linked in: 00510 CPU: 10 UID: 0 PID: 7692 Comm: cat Not tainted 6.15.0-rc1-ktest-g189e17946605 #19327 NONE 00510 Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT) 00510 pstate: 20001005 (nzCv daif -PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT +SSBS BTYPE=--) 00510 pc : __alloc_tagging_slab_alloc_hook+0xe0/0x190 00510 lr : __kmalloc_noprof+0x150/0x310 00510 sp : ffffff80c87df6c0 00510 x29: ffffff80c87df6c0 x28: 000000000013d1ff x27: 000000000013d200 00510 x26: ffffff80c87df9e0 x25: 0000000000000000 x24: 0000000000000001 00510 x23: ffffffc08041953c x22: 000000000000004c x21: ffffff80c0002180 00510 x20: fffffffec3120840 x19: ffffff80c4821000 x18: 0000000000000000 00510 x17: fffffffec3d02f00 x16: fffffffec3d02e00 x15: fffffffec3d00700 00510 x14: fffffffec3d00600 x13: 0000000000000200 x12: 0000000000000006 00510 x11: ffffffc080bb86c0 x10: 0000000000000000 x9 : ffffffc080201e58 00510 x8 : ffffff80c4821060 x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 : 0000000055555556 00510 x5 : 0000000000000001 x4 : 0000000000000010 x3 : 0000000000000060 00510 x2 : 0000000000000000 x1 : ffffffc080f50cf8 x0 : ffffff80d801d000 00510 Call trace: 00510 __alloc_tagging_slab_alloc_hook+0xe0/0x190 (P) 00510 __kmalloc_noprof+0x150/0x310 00510 __bch2_folio_create+0x5c/0xf8 00510 bch2_folio_create+0x2c/0x40 00510 bch2_readahead+0xc0/0x460 00510 read_pages+0x7c/0x230 00510 page_cache_ra_order+0x244/0x3a8 00510 page_cache_async_ra+0x124/0x170 00510 filemap_readahead.isra.0+0x58/0xa0 00510 filemap_get_pages+0x454/0x7b0 00510 filemap_read+0xdc/0x418 00510 bch2_read_iter+0x100/0x1b0 00510 vfs_read+0x214/0x300 00510 ksys_read+0x6c/0x108 00510 __arm64_sys_read+0x20/0x30 00510 invoke_syscall.constprop.0+0x54/0xe8 00510 do_el0_svc+0x44/0xc8 00510 el0_svc+0x18/0x58 00510 el0t_64_sync_handler+0x104/0x130 00510 el0t_64_sync+0x154/0x158 00510 Code: d5384100 f9401c01 b9401aa3 b40002e1 (f8227881) 00510 ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- 00510 Kernel panic - not syncing: Oops: Fatal exception 00510 SMP: stopping secondary CPUs 00510 Kernel Offset: disabled 00510 CPU features: 0x0000,000000e0,00000410,8240500b 00510 Memory Limit: none Investigation indicates that these bits are already set when we allocate slab page and are not zeroed out after allocation. We are not yet sure why these crashes start happening only recently but regardless of the reason, not initializing a field that gets used later is wrong. Fix it by initializing slab->obj_exts during slab page allocation.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-476

The code follows a pointer that is null, crashing the process. An attacker who can reliably trigger it turns the crash into a denial of service. The fix is checking for null before use and handling the failure path gracefully.

General guidance for the null pointer dereference class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 6.10, < 6.12.25>= 6.13, < 6.14.4= 6.15

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

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

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.12.25 / 6.14.4 or later
Fixed in 6.12.256.14.4
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux kernel 6.12.25, 6.14.4, or 6.15.1 (or later stable releases)

  1. 1. Identify current running kernel version using `uname -r` or `cat /proc/version`
  2. 2. Determine the appropriate upgrade path based on current version:
  3. - If running 6.10.x through 6.12.24: upgrade to kernel 6.12.25 or later
  4. - If running 6.13.x through 6.14.3: upgrade to kernel 6.14.4 or later
  5. - If running 6.15.x: upgrade to kernel 6.15.1 or later (or next stable release)
  6. 3. Update the kernel package via distribution's package manager (e.g., `apt-get dist-upgrade`, `yum update`, or similar)
  7. 4. Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  8. 5. Verify the fix by running `uname -r` to confirm the new kernel version and check that the system no longer crashes during buffered I/O operations
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboots and could introduce compatibility changes with out-of-tree modules or custom drivers; ensure all kernel modules are compatible with the target version before production deployment

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $2,850. Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-37774 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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