Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-71292

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-06
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.10.252 / 5.15.202 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: jfs: nlink overflow in jfs_rename If nlink is maximal for a directory (-1) and inside that directory you perform a rename for some child directory (not moving from the parent), then the nlink of the first directory is first incremented and later decremented. Normally this is fine, but when nlink = -1 this causes a wrap around to 0, and then drop_nlink issues a warning. After applying the patch syzbot no longer issues any warnings. I also ran some basic fs tests to look for any regressions.

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:>= 2.6.12.1, < 5.10.252>= 5.11, < 5.15.202>= 5.16, < 6.1.165>= 6.2, < 6.6.128>= 6.7, < 6.12.75>= 6.13, < 6.18.16>= 6.19, < 6.19.6= 2.6.12

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 5.10.252 / 5.15.202 / 6.1.165 or later
Fixed in 5.10.2525.15.2026.1.165
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux kernel 5.10.252, 5.15.202, 6.1.165, or 6.6.128 (depending on your branch)

  1. 1. Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. 2. Determine which kernel branch you are on (e.g., 5.10.x, 5.15.x, 6.1.x, 6.2.x, 6.6.x)
  3. 3. Upgrade to the first fixed version in your branch: for 5.10.x upgrade to 5.10.252, for 5.15.x upgrade to 5.15.202, for 6.1.x upgrade to 6.1.165, or for 6.6.x upgrade to 6.6.128
  4. 4. Apply the upgrade via your distribution's package manager (e.g., `apt-get update && apt-get upgrade linux-image` for Debian/Ubuntu, `yum update kernel` for RHEL/CentOS, or `dnf update kernel` for Fedora)
  5. 5. Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  6. 6. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version with `uname -r` matches the expected fixed version
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system downtime for reboot and could introduce regressions in third-party kernel modules; ensure driver compatibility 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

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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-2025-71292 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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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