Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2025-71295
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 · uneditedIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs/buffer: add alert in try_to_free_buffers() for folios without buffers try_to_free_buffers() can be called on folios with no buffers attached when filemap_release_folio() is invoked on a folio belonging to a mapping with AS_RELEASE_ALWAYS set but no release_folio operation defined. In such cases, folio_needs_release() returns true because of the AS_RELEASE_ALWAYS flag, but the folio has no private buffer data. This causes try_to_free_buffers() to call drop_buffers() on a folio with no buffers, leading to a null pointer dereference. Adding a check in try_to_free_buffers() to return early if the folio has no buffers attached, with WARN_ON_ONCE() to alert about the misconfiguration. This provides defensive hardening.
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 analysisThe 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
>= 6.1.72, < 6.1.165>= 6.2, < 6.6.128>= 6.7, < 6.12.75>= 6.13, < 6.18.16>= 6.19, < 6.19.6CVSS 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 · scoped6.1.1656.6.1286.12.75
6.1.165, 6.6.128, 6.12.75, or 6.18.16 (or latest stable 6.18.x)
- 1. Identify the running kernel version using 'uname -r'
- 2. If running an affected version (6.1.72-6.1.164, 6.2.x, 6.7-6.12.74, or 6.13-6.18.15), obtain the vendor patch from commit 1b111a69a6e33a922622bf9870e4e63fb2b649c8
- 3. Apply the patch to the kernel source code in fs/buffer.c, adding the NULL check and WARN_ON_ONCE() in try_to_free_buffers()
- 4. Recompile the kernel with the fix
- 5. Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
- 6. Alternatively, apply vendor-supplied kernel updates/patches for your distribution
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-71295 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-71295 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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