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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-38370

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-07-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.15.6 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: btrfs: fix failure to rebuild free space tree using multiple transactions If we are rebuilding a free space tree, while modifying the free space tree we may need to allocate a new metadata block group. If we end up using multiple transactions for the rebuild, when we call btrfs_end_transaction() we enter btrfs_create_pending_block_groups() which calls add_block_group_free_space() to add items to the free space tree for the block group. Then later during the free space tree rebuild, at btrfs_rebuild_free_space_tree(), we may find such new block groups and call populate_free_space_tree() for them, which fails with -EEXIST because there are already items in the free space tree. Then we abort the transaction with -EEXIST at btrfs_rebuild_free_space_tree(). Notice that we say "may find" the new block groups because a new block group may be inserted in the block groups rbtree, which is being iterated by the rebuild process, before or after the current node where the rebuild process is currently at. Syzbot recently reported such case which produces a trace like the following: ------------[ cut here ]------------ BTRFS: Transaction aborted (error -17) WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 7626 at fs/btrfs/free-space-tree.c:1341 btrfs_rebuild_free_space_tree+0x470/0x54c fs/btrfs/free-space-tree.c:1341 Modules linked in: CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 7626 Comm: syz.2.25 Not tainted 6.15.0-rc7-syzkaller-00085-gd7fa1af5b33e-dirty #0 PREEMPT Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 05/07/2025 pstate: 60400005 (nZCv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) pc : btrfs_rebuild_free_space_tree+0x470/0x54c fs/btrfs/free-space-tree.c:1341 lr : btrfs_rebuild_free_space_tree+0x470/0x54c fs/btrfs/free-space-tree.c:1341 sp : ffff80009c4f7740 x29: ffff80009c4f77b0 x28: ffff0000d4c3f400 x27: 0000000000000000 x26: dfff800000000000 x25: ffff70001389eee8 x24: 0000000000000003 x23: 1fffe000182b6e7b x22: 0000000000000000 x21: ffff0000c15b73d8 x20: 00000000ffffffef x19: ffff0000c15b7378 x18: 1fffe0003386f276 x17: ffff80008f31e000 x16: ffff80008adbe98c x15: 0000000000000001 x14: 1fffe0001b281550 x13: 0000000000000000 x12: 0000000000000000 x11: ffff60001b281551 x10: 0000000000000003 x9 : 1c8922000a902c00 x8 : 1c8922000a902c00 x7 : ffff800080485878 x6 : 0000000000000000 x5 : 0000000000000001 x4 : 0000000000000001 x3 : ffff80008047843c x2 : 0000000000000001 x1 : ffff80008b3ebc40 x0 : 0000000000000001 Call trace: btrfs_rebuild_free_space_tree+0x470/0x54c fs/btrfs/free-space-tree.c:1341 (P) btrfs_start_pre_rw_mount+0xa78/0xe10 fs/btrfs/disk-io.c:3074 btrfs_remount_rw fs/btrfs/super.c:1319 [inline] btrfs_reconfigure+0x828/0x2418 fs/btrfs/super.c:1543 reconfigure_super+0x1d4/0x6f0 fs/super.c:1083 do_remount fs/namespace.c:3365 [inline] path_mount+0xb34/0xde0 fs/namespace.c:4200 do_mount fs/namespace.c:4221 [inline] __do_sys_mount fs/namespace.c:4432 [inline] __se_sys_mount fs/namespace.c:4409 [inline] __arm64_sys_mount+0x3e8/0x468 fs/namespace.c:4409 __invoke_syscall arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:35 [inline] invoke_syscall+0x98/0x2b8 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:49 el0_svc_common+0x130/0x23c arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:132 do_el0_svc+0x48/0x58 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:151 el0_svc+0x58/0x17c arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:767 el0t_64_sync_handler+0x78/0x108 arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:786 el0t_64_sync+0x198/0x19c arch/arm64/kernel/entry.S:600 irq event stamp: 330 hardirqs last enabled at (329): [<ffff80008048590c>] raw_spin_rq_unlock_irq kernel/sched/sched.h:1525 [inline] hardirqs last enabled at (329): [<ffff80008048590c>] finish_lock_switch+0xb0/0x1c0 kernel/sched/core.c:5130 hardirqs last disabled at (330): [<ffff80008adb9e60>] el1_dbg+0x24/0x80 arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:511 softirqs last enabled at (10): [<ffff8000801fbf10>] local_bh_enable+0 ---truncated---

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:>= 6.14, < 6.15.6= 6.16

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 6.15.6 or later
Fixed in 6.15.6
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 6.15.6+ or 6.16.1+ or 6.17+

  1. Upgrade the Linux kernel to version 6.15.6 or later. If running kernel 6.16.x, upgrade to 6.16.1 or later, or upgrade to the latest stable kernel version (6.17 or later).
  2. After kernel upgrade, reboot the system to load the fixed kernel.
  3. If using a distribution kernel, apply the distribution's security update containing the fix for CVE-2025-38370.
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could have compatibility implications with existing modules or software. Ensure backup and test in non-production environment first.

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-2025-38370 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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