dbcve.org
Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-38701

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.4.297 / 5.10.241 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: ext4: do not BUG when INLINE_DATA_FL lacks system.data xattr A syzbot fuzzed image triggered a BUG_ON in ext4_update_inline_data() when an inode had the INLINE_DATA_FL flag set but was missing the system.data extended attribute. Since this can happen due to a maiciouly fuzzed file system, we shouldn't BUG, but rather, report it as a corrupted file system. Add similar replacements of BUG_ON with EXT4_ERROR_INODE() ii ext4_create_inline_data() and ext4_inline_data_truncate().

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-617

Attacker-controllable input can reach an assertion that aborts the process when it fails, so a check meant for debugging becomes a denial-of-service in production. A single crafted request takes the service down. The fix is to handle unexpected input gracefully on reachable paths rather than asserting on it.

General guidance for the reachable assertion 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:>= 3.8, < 5.4.297>= 5.5, < 5.10.241>= 5.11, < 5.15.190>= 5.16, < 6.1.149>= 6.2, < 6.6.103>= 6.7, < 6.12.43>= 6.13, < 6.15.11>= 6.16, < 6.16.2
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 11.0

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 5.4.297 / 5.10.241 / 5.15.190 or later
Fixed in 5.4.2975.10.2415.15.190
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 5.4.297 / 5.10.241 / 5.15.190 / 6.1.149 or later (whichever matches your current major series)

  1. 1. Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using 'uname -r'
  2. 2. Determine which kernel major series you are running (e.g., 5.4.x, 5.10.x, 5.15.x, or 6.1.x)
  3. 3. For Debian 11 (Bullseye), check if a kernel update is available: 'apt-get update && apt-cache policy linux-image-$(uname -r)'
  4. 4. For upstream kernels, obtain the fixed version: upgrade to 5.4.297+, 5.10.241+, 5.15.190+, or 6.1.149+ depending on your current series
  5. 5. Apply the upgrade via your distribution's package manager or by compiling a new kernel from kernel.org
  6. 6. Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  7. 7. Verify the fix is applied by checking the commit is present: 'git log --oneline --all | grep 099b847ccc6c1ad2f805d13cfbcc83f5b6d4bc42' or by checking the kernel version after reboot
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebooting production systems; ensure compatibility with existing system libraries and drivers before upgrading

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

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-38701 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2025-38701 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data