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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-38164

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-07-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.7 / 6.12.34 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: f2fs: zone: fix to avoid inconsistence in between SIT and SSA w/ below testcase, it will cause inconsistence in between SIT and SSA. create_null_blk 512 2 1024 1024 mkfs.f2fs -m /dev/nullb0 mount /dev/nullb0 /mnt/f2fs/ touch /mnt/f2fs/file f2fs_io pinfile set /mnt/f2fs/file fallocate -l 4GiB /mnt/f2fs/file F2FS-fs (nullb0): Inconsistent segment (0) type [1, 0] in SSA and SIT CPU: 5 UID: 0 PID: 2398 Comm: fallocate Tainted: G O 6.13.0-rc1 #84 Tainted: [O]=OOT_MODULE Hardware name: innotek GmbH VirtualBox/VirtualBox, BIOS VirtualBox 12/01/2006 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0xb3/0xd0 dump_stack+0x14/0x20 f2fs_handle_critical_error+0x18c/0x220 [f2fs] f2fs_stop_checkpoint+0x38/0x50 [f2fs] do_garbage_collect+0x674/0x6e0 [f2fs] f2fs_gc_range+0x12b/0x230 [f2fs] f2fs_allocate_pinning_section+0x5c/0x150 [f2fs] f2fs_expand_inode_data+0x1cc/0x3c0 [f2fs] f2fs_fallocate+0x3c3/0x410 [f2fs] vfs_fallocate+0x15f/0x4b0 __x64_sys_fallocate+0x4a/0x80 x64_sys_call+0x15e8/0x1b80 do_syscall_64+0x68/0x130 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x67/0x6f RIP: 0033:0x7f9dba5197ca F2FS-fs (nullb0): Stopped filesystem due to reason: 4 The reason is f2fs_gc_range() may try to migrate block in curseg, however, its SSA block is not uptodate due to the last summary block data is still in cache of curseg. In this patch, we add a condition in f2fs_gc_range() to check whether section is opened or not, and skip block migration for opened section.

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

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

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:>= 6.6.33, < 6.7>= 6.9, < 6.12.34>= 6.13, < 6.15.3

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 6.7 / 6.12.34 / 6.15.3 or later
Fixed in 6.76.12.346.15.3
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

6.7 (for 6.6.33-6.6.x) or 6.12.34 (for 6.9-6.12.x) or 6.15.3 (for 6.13-6.15.x)

  1. Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Determine which kernel branch is in use (e.g., 6.6.y, 6.9.y, 6.13.y, etc.)
  3. Upgrade to a fixed kernel version: for 6.6.33+ kernels, upgrade to 6.7 or later; for 6.9+ kernels, upgrade to 6.12.34 or later; for 6.13+ kernels, upgrade to 6.15.3 or later
  4. On distributions using point releases (e.g., Ubuntu, Debian), upgrade to the latest available kernel in your stable channel
  5. Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  6. Verify the fix is applied by checking `uname -r` matches the expected fixed version
  7. If using f2fs with zone storage, re-test the original test case to confirm the vulnerability is resolved
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebooting production systems; ensure compatibility with existing system drivers and modules before deploying

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 $1,600. 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-2025-38164 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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