CVE-2025-38614

EUVD-2025-25367
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

eventpoll: Fix semi-unbounded recursion

Ensure that epoll instances can never form a graph deeper than
EP_MAX_NESTS+1 links.

Currently, ep_loop_check_proc() ensures that the graph is loop-free and
does some recursion depth checks, but those recursion depth checks don't
limit the depth of the resulting tree for two reasons:

 - They don't look upwards in the tree.
 - If there are multiple downwards paths of different lengths, only one of
   the paths is actually considered for the depth check since commit
   28d82dc1c4ed ("epoll: limit paths").

Essentially, the current recursion depth check in ep_loop_check_proc() just
serves to prevent it from recursing too deeply while checking for loops.

A more thorough check is done in reverse_path_check() after the new graph
edge has already been created; this checks, among other things, that no
paths going upwards from any non-epoll file with a length of more than 5
edges exist. However, this check does not apply to non-epoll files.

As a result, it is possible to recurse to a depth of at least roughly 500,
tested on v6.15. (I am unsure if deeper recursion is possible; and this may
have changed with commit 8c44dac8add7 ("eventpoll: Fix priority inversion
problem").)

To fix it:

1. In ep_loop_check_proc(), note the subtree depth of each visited node,
and use subtree depths for the total depth calculation even when a subtree
has already been visited.
2. Add ep_get_upwards_depth_proc() for similarly determining the maximum
depth of an upwards walk.
3. In ep_loop_check(), use these values to limit the total path length
between epoll nodes to EP_MAX_NESTS edges.
ProviderTypeBase ScoreAtk. VectorAtk. ComplexityPriv. RequiredVector
NISTPrimary
5.5 MEDIUM
LOCAL
LOW
LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Base Score
CVSS 3.x
EPSS Score
Percentile: 5%
Affected Products (NVD)
VendorProductVersion
linuxlinux_kernel
2.6.32.30 ≤
𝑥
< 2.6.33
linuxlinux_kernel
2.6.33.8 ≤
𝑥
< 2.6.34
linuxlinux_kernel
2.6.34.10 ≤
𝑥
< 2.6.35
linuxlinux_kernel
2.6.35.12 ≤
𝑥
< 2.6.36
linuxlinux_kernel
2.6.37.3 ≤
𝑥
< 2.6.38
linuxlinux_kernel
2.6.38.1 ≤
𝑥
< 5.15.190
linuxlinux_kernel
5.16 ≤
𝑥
< 6.1.149
linuxlinux_kernel
6.2 ≤
𝑥
< 6.6.103
linuxlinux_kernel
6.7 ≤
𝑥
< 6.12.43
linuxlinux_kernel
6.13 ≤
𝑥
< 6.15.11
linuxlinux_kernel
6.16 ≤
𝑥
< 6.16.1
linuxlinux_kernel
2.6.38
linuxlinux_kernel
2.6.38:rc7
linuxlinux_kernel
2.6.38:rc8
debiandebian_linux
11.0
𝑥
= Vulnerable software versions
Debian logo
Debian Releases
Debian Product
Codename
linux
bookworm
6.1.159-1
fixed
bookworm (security)
6.1.162-1
fixed
bullseye
vulnerable
bullseye (security)
vulnerable
forky
6.18.9-1
fixed
sid
6.18.12-1
fixed
trixie
6.12.63-1
fixed
trixie (security)
6.12.73-1
fixed
linux-6.1
bullseye (security)
6.1.162-1~deb11u1
fixed