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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-40082

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-10-28
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.5 / 5.11 or later.
See remediation →
73/100
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: hfsplus: fix slab-out-of-bounds read in hfsplus_uni2asc() BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in hfsplus_uni2asc+0xa71/0xb90 fs/hfsplus/unicode.c:186 Read of size 2 at addr ffff8880289ef218 by task syz.6.248/14290 CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 14290 Comm: syz.6.248 Not tainted 6.16.4 #1 PREEMPT(full) Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.15.0-1 04/01/2014 Call Trace: <TASK> __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:94 [inline] dump_stack_lvl+0x116/0x1b0 lib/dump_stack.c:120 print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:378 [inline] print_report+0xca/0x5f0 mm/kasan/report.c:482 kasan_report+0xca/0x100 mm/kasan/report.c:595 hfsplus_uni2asc+0xa71/0xb90 fs/hfsplus/unicode.c:186 hfsplus_listxattr+0x5b6/0xbd0 fs/hfsplus/xattr.c:738 vfs_listxattr+0xbe/0x140 fs/xattr.c:493 listxattr+0xee/0x190 fs/xattr.c:924 filename_listxattr fs/xattr.c:958 [inline] path_listxattrat+0x143/0x360 fs/xattr.c:988 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xcb/0x4c0 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f RIP: 0033:0x7fe0e9fae16d Code: 02 b8 ff ff ff ff c3 66 0f 1f 44 00 00 f3 0f 1e fa 48 89 f8 48 89 f7 48 89 d6 48 89 ca 4d 89 c2 4d 89 c8 4c 8b 4c 24 08 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 c7 c1 a8 ff ff ff f7 d8 64 89 01 48 RSP: 002b:00007fe0eae67f98 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 00000000000000c3 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007fe0ea205fa0 RCX: 00007fe0e9fae16d RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 0000200000000000 RBP: 00007fe0ea0480f0 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 0000000000000000 R13: 00007fe0ea206038 R14: 00007fe0ea205fa0 R15: 00007fe0eae48000 </TASK> Allocated by task 14290: kasan_save_stack+0x24/0x50 mm/kasan/common.c:47 kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 mm/kasan/common.c:68 poison_kmalloc_redzone mm/kasan/common.c:377 [inline] __kasan_kmalloc+0xaa/0xb0 mm/kasan/common.c:394 kasan_kmalloc include/linux/kasan.h:260 [inline] __do_kmalloc_node mm/slub.c:4333 [inline] __kmalloc_noprof+0x219/0x540 mm/slub.c:4345 kmalloc_noprof include/linux/slab.h:909 [inline] hfsplus_find_init+0x95/0x1f0 fs/hfsplus/bfind.c:21 hfsplus_listxattr+0x331/0xbd0 fs/hfsplus/xattr.c:697 vfs_listxattr+0xbe/0x140 fs/xattr.c:493 listxattr+0xee/0x190 fs/xattr.c:924 filename_listxattr fs/xattr.c:958 [inline] path_listxattrat+0x143/0x360 fs/xattr.c:988 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xcb/0x4c0 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f When hfsplus_uni2asc is called from hfsplus_listxattr, it actually passes in a struct hfsplus_attr_unistr*. The size of the corresponding structure is different from that of hfsplus_unistr, so the previous fix (94458781aee6) is insufficient. The pointer on the unicode buffer is still going beyond the allocated memory. This patch introduces two warpper functions hfsplus_uni2asc_xattr_str and hfsplus_uni2asc_str to process two unicode buffers, struct hfsplus_attr_unistr* and struct hfsplus_unistr* respectively. When ustrlen value is bigger than the allocated memory size, the ustrlen value is limited to an safe size.

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-125

The code reads past the end (or before the start) of a buffer, returning memory that was never meant to be exposed. Attackers use it to leak secrets like keys or to defeat memory-protection defences. Remediation is validating indices and lengths before every read.

General guidance for the out-of-bounds read 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:>= 5.4.297, < 5.5>= 5.10.241, < 5.11>= 5.15.190, < 5.15.200>= 6.1.149, < 6.1.163>= 6.6.103, < 6.6.124>= 6.12.43, < 6.12.70>= 6.15.11, < 6.16>= 6.16.2, < 6.17.3

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
High
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 5.5 / 5.11 / 5.15.200 or later
Fixed in 5.55.115.15.200
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Linux kernel 5.5, 5.11, 5.15.200, or 6.1.163 (depending on your current major version branch)

  1. Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using `uname -r` or `cat /proc/version`
  2. Determine which version range your kernel falls into based on the affected versions: 5.4.x, 5.10.x, 5.15.x, or 6.1.x
  3. Upgrade to the fixed release for your version branch: 5.5, 5.11, 5.15.200, or 6.1.163 respectively
  4. For Debian/Ubuntu: Use `apt-get update && apt-get dist-upgrade` or install the specific kernel package from your distribution's security repository
  5. For RHEL/CentOS: Use `yum update kernel` or `dnf update kernel`
  6. For other distributions: Obtain the patched kernel from your vendor or compile from source using the stable tree commit 343fe375a8dd6ee51a193a1c233b999f5ea4d479
  7. Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
  8. Verify the fix by running `uname -r` to confirm the kernel version is at or above the fixed release
Caveat Upgrading kernel major versions (e.g., 5.4 to 5.5) may introduce compatibility issues with custom modules or older system tools; ensure dependent software is compatible

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 $3,200. 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-2025-40082 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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