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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-39878

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.16.8 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: ceph: fix crash after fscrypt_encrypt_pagecache_blocks() error The function move_dirty_folio_in_page_array() was created by commit ce80b76dd327 ("ceph: introduce ceph_process_folio_batch() method") by moving code from ceph_writepages_start() to this function. This new function is supposed to return an error code which is checked by the caller (now ceph_process_folio_batch()), and on error, the caller invokes redirty_page_for_writepage() and then breaks from the loop. However, the refactoring commit has gone wrong, and it by accident, it always returns 0 (= success) because it first NULLs the pointer and then returns PTR_ERR(NULL) which is always 0. This means errors are silently ignored, leaving NULL entries in the page array, which may later crash the kernel. The simple solution is to call PTR_ERR() before clearing the pointer.

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:>= 6.15, < 6.16.8= 6.17

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 6.16.8 or later
Fixed in 6.16.8
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 6.16.8 or later (6.16.x line), or 6.18 or later

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Check if the running kernel version is one of the affected versions: 6.15.x, 6.16.0-6.16.7, or 6.17.x
  3. If running an affected version, upgrade to kernel version 6.16.8 or later (for 6.16.x line)
  4. Alternatively, upgrade to kernel version 6.18 or later which includes the fix
  5. After upgrading, reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  6. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version after reboot with `uname -r`
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebuilding third-party kernel modules; ensure driver compatibility with the new kernel version before upgrading production systems

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-2025-39878 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
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