CVE-2025-38017

MEDIUM EPSS 3.5%
Published Jun 18, 20251y ago · Modified Jun 17, 20262w ago
5.5 CVSS 3.1
Medium
Find Similar
Published Jun 18, 2025 1y ago
Last Modified Jun 17, 2026 2w ago

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs/eventpoll: fix endless busy loop after timeout has expired After commit 0a65bc27bd64 ("eventpoll: Set epoll timeout if it's in the future"), the following program would immediately enter a busy loop in the kernel: ``` int main() { int e = epoll_create1(0); struct epoll_event event = {.events = EPOLLIN}; epoll_ctl(e, EPOLL_CTL_ADD, 0, &event); const struct timespec timeout = {.tv_nsec = 1}; epoll_pwait2(e, &event, 1, &timeout, 0); } ``` This happens because the given (non-zero) timeout of 1 nanosecond usually expires before ep_poll() is entered and then ep_schedule_timeout() returns false, but `timed_out` is never set because the code line that sets it is skipped. This quickly turns into a soft lockup, RCU stalls and deadlocks, inflicting severe headaches to the whole system. When the timeout has expired, we don't need to schedule a hrtimer, but we should set the `timed_out` variable. Therefore, I suggest moving the ep_schedule_timeout() check into the `timed_out` expression instead of skipping it. brauner: Note that there was an earlier fix by Joe Damato in response to my bug report in [1].

CVSS Details

Base Score
5.5
Exploitability
1.8
Impact
3.6
Vector string
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Attack Vector Local
Attack Complexity Low
Privileges Required Low
User Interaction None
Scope Unchanged
Confidentiality None
Integrity None
Availability High

Threat Intelligence

EPSS Exploit Probability
3.5% percentile
Exploit & Patch Status
No Known Exploit
Patch Available

Affected Products 5

VendorProductVersionRange
linuxlinux_kernel*≥6.14.4  –  <6.14.8
linuxlinux_kernel6.15any
linuxlinux_kernel6.15any
linuxlinux_kernel6.15any
linuxlinux_kernel6.15any

References 2

  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7631dca012593c95d36199082546a24a0058fc50
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d9ec73301099ec5975505e1c3effbe768bab9490
    Patch

Remediation

  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7631dca012593c95d36199082546a24a0058fc50
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d9ec73301099ec5975505e1c3effbe768bab9490
    Patch