CVE-2025-38716 — hfs: fix general protection fault in hfs_find_init()
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: hfs: fix general protection fault in hfs_find_init() The hfs_find_init() method can trigger the crash if tree pointer is NULL: [ 45.746290][ T9787] Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000008: 0000 [#1] SMP KAI [ 45.747287][ T9787] KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000040-0x0000000000000047] [ 45.748716][ T9787] CPU: 2 UID: 0 PID: 9787 Comm: repro Not tainted 6.16.0-rc3 #10 PREEMPT(full) [ 45.750250][ T9787] Hardware name: QEMU Ubuntu 24.04 PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014 [ 45.751983][ T9787] RIP: 0010:hfs_find_init+0x86/0x230 [ 45.752834][ T9787] Code: c1 ea 03 80 3c 02 00 0f 85 9a 01 00 00 4c 8d 6b 40 48 c7 45 18 00 00 00 00 48 b8 00 00 00 00 00 fc [ 45.755574][ T9787] RSP: 0018:ffffc90015157668 EFLAGS: 00010202 [ 45.756432][ T9787] RAX: dffffc0000000000 RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: ffffffff819a4d09 [ 45.757457][ T9787] RDX: 0000000000000008 RSI: ffffffff819acd3a RDI: ffffc900151576e8 [ 45.758282][ T9787] RBP: ffffc900151576d0 R08: 0000000000000005 R09: 0000000000000000 [ 45.758943][ T9787] R10: 0000000080000000 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: 0000000000000004 [ 45.759619][ T9787] R13: 0000000000000040 R14: ffff88802c50814a R15: 0000000000000000 [ 45.760293][ T9787] FS: 00007ffb72734540(0000) GS:ffff8880cec64000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 45.761050][ T9787] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 45.761606][ T9787] CR2: 00007f9bd8225000 CR3: 000000010979a000 CR4: 00000000000006f0 [ 45.762286][ T9787] Call Trace: [ 45.762570][ T9787] <TASK> [ 45.762824][ T9787] hfs_ext_read_extent+0x190/0x9d0 [ 45.763269][ T9787] ? submit_bio_noacct_nocheck+0x2dd/0xce0 [ 45.763766][ T9787] ? __pfx_hfs_ext_read_extent+0x10/0x10 [ 45.764250][ T9787] hfs_get_block+0x55f/0x830 [ 45.764646][ T9787] block_read_full_folio+0x36d/0x850 [ 45.765105][ T9787] ? __pfx_hfs_get_block+0x10/0x10 [ 45.765541][ T9787] ? const_folio_flags+0x5b/0x100 [ 45.765972][ T9787] ? __pfx_hfs_read_folio+0x10/0x10 [ 45.766415][ T9787] filemap_read_folio+0xbe/0x290 [ 45.766840][ T9787] ? __pfx_filemap_read_folio+0x10/0x10 [ 45.767325][ T9787] ? __filemap_get_folio+0x32b/0xbf0 [ 45.767780][ T9787] do_read_cache_folio+0x263/0x5c0 [ 45.768223][ T9787] ? __pfx_hfs_read_folio+0x10/0x10 [ 45.768666][ T9787] read_cache_page+0x5b/0x160 [ 45.769070][ T9787] hfs_btree_open+0x491/0x1740 [ 45.769481][ T9787] hfs_mdb_get+0x15e2/0x1fb0 [ 45.769877][ T9787] ? __pfx_hfs_mdb_get+0x10/0x10 [ 45.770316][ T9787] ? find_held_lock+0x2b/0x80 [ 45.770731][ T9787] ? lockdep_init_map_type+0x5c/0x280 [ 45.771200][ T9787] ? lockdep_init_map_type+0x5c/0x280 [ 45.771674][ T9787] hfs_fill_super+0x38e/0x720 [ 45.772092][ T9787] ? __pfx_hfs_fill_super+0x10/0x10 [ 45.772549][ T9787] ? snprintf+0xbe/0x100 [ 45.772931][ T9787] ? __pfx_snprintf+0x10/0x10 [ 45.773350][ T9787] ? do_raw_spin_lock+0x129/0x2b0 [ 45.773796][ T9787] ? find_held_lock+0x2b/0x80 [ 45.774215][ T9787] ? set_blocksize+0x40a/0x510 [ 45.774636][ T9787] ? sb_set_blocksize+0x176/0x1d0 [ 45.775087][ T9787] ? setup_bdev_super+0x369/0x730 [ 45.775533][ T9787] get_tree_bdev_flags+0x384/0x620 [ 45.775985][ T9787] ? __pfx_hfs_fill_super+0x10/0x10 [ 45.776453][ T9787] ? __pfx_get_tree_bdev_flags+0x10/0x10 [ 45.776950][ T9787] ? bpf_lsm_capable+0x9/0x10 [ 45.777365][ T9787] ? security_capable+0x80/0x260 [ 45.777803][ T9787] vfs_get_tree+0x8e/0x340 [ 45.778203][ T9787] path_mount+0x13de/0x2010 [ 45.778604][ T9787] ? kmem_cache_free+0x2b0/0x4c0 [ 45.779052][ T9787] ? __pfx_path_mount+0x10/0x10 [ 45.779480][ T9787] ? getname_flags.part.0+0x1c5/0x550 [ 45.779954][ T9787] ? putname+0x154/0x1a0 [ 45.780335][ T9787] __x64_sys_mount+0x27b/0x300 [ 45.780758][ T9787] ? __pfx___x64_sys_mount+0x10/0x10 [ 45.781232][ T9787] ---truncated---
Who exploits it and how urgent it is
A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.
How the score was calculated
- EPSS 0.1% (30-day exploitation probability)+1
- Technical severity (medium)+3
The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).
Triage
Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.
Remediation
Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.
- Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
- Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
- Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
- Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
- Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
First 24 hours
Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.
- Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Linux Linux, Linux Linux Kernel).
- Apply the fixed version or the patch documented under Remediation.
- Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (memory corruption), errors and authentication anomalies.
Affected scope
Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux |
version 34456bfafc2743a19eb148d56502f9a8c0dc6fccversion 3.2≥ 3.1.6 and < 3.2≥ 3.0.14 and < 3.1≥ 2.6.34.14 and < 2.6.35≥ 2.6.32.51 and < 2.6.33≥ 2.6.27.60 and < 2.6.28version 9f0f2bb728f4e87568f89a5603f7d3b76ef6a3b9 and 8 moreversion 70f2545d9e75f9d8ed4bfe0a6efa232abd88806eversion 9d6b8fa025237243e1782c358c83f20062d39fbeversion 3db7e32f7521df6f9b64a9b04abb00dd11ca5735≥ 434a964daa14b9db083ce20404a4a2add54d037a and < 736a0516a16268995f4898eded49bfef077af709≥ 434a964daa14b9db083ce20404a4a2add54d037a and < 6e20e10064fdc43231636fca519c15c013a8e3d6≥ 434a964daa14b9db083ce20404a4a2add54d037a and < b918c17a1934ac6309b0083f41d4e9d8fb3bb46c≥ 434a964daa14b9db083ce20404a4a2add54d037a and < 5d8b249527362e0ccafcaf76b3bec2a0d2aa1498≥ 434a964daa14b9db083ce20404a4a2add54d037a and < 4f032979b63ad52e08aadf0faeac34ed35133ec0 |
Vulnerable | CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP |
| Linux | Linux Kernel | < 6.6.103≥ 6.16 and < 6.16.2≥ 6.13 and < 6.15.11≥ 6.7 and < 6.12.43 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
Attack characteristics
The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.
Every base score collected
Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.
| Score | Version | Severity | Expl. | Impact | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.5 | CVSS 3.1 | Medium | 1.8 | 3.6 | nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| 5.5 | CVSS 3.1 | Medium | — | — | GitHub, Inc. via GitHub Security Advisories |
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H (score shown at the top: nvd@nist.gov) Weakness MITRE
Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.
Detection
Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.
- Local/physical vector: focus on endpoint telemetry (EDR) from affected hosts.
- Correlate service crashes/restarts with inbound traffic; repeated crashes may indicate attempts.
Timeline
What happened to this CVE, newest first.
- 2026
- Affected products added · linux/linux
- Record published
- Fix documented
- Affected products added · linux/linux kernel
- CVSS changed · 5.5
- Source status changed · → Analyzed
- Record created in this database
- 2025
- CVE published
Source activity
Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.
- 2× References added · Oct 19, 2026 – Oct 19, 2026
- 1× Official description updated · Oct 19, 2026 – Oct 19, 2026
References
7 on the record
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/b918c17a1934ac6309b0083f41d4e9d8fb3bb46c
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/4f032979b63ad52e08aadf0faeac34ed35133ec0
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/5d8b249527362e0ccafcaf76b3bec2a0d2aa1498
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/736a0516a16268995f4898eded49bfef077af709
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/6e20e10064fdc43231636fca519c15c013a8e3d6
- github.com/advisories/GHSA-pqjx-hgww-fpj7
- nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38716
Elsewhere on this site
Related CVEs (same products)
- Unknown CVE-2026-98868 dm-pcache: reject a kset that overruns its segment 1d
- Unknown CVE-2026-98866 sched/cache: Introduce task_struct->sched_cache_grp to fix UAF 1d
- Unknown CVE-2026-98867 dm-pcache: bound the logical key offset from persistent memory 1d
- Unknown CVE-2026-98865 sched_ext: Don't run ops.dequeue() with a DSQ lock held 1d
- Unknown CVE-2026-98864 sched_ext: Wait for SCX_OPSS_DISPATCHING before reenqueueing a task 1d
- Unknown CVE-2026-98863 KVM: x86: Re-pend GET_NESTED_STATE_PAGES if getting said pages fails 1d
Not in any source we poll
Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.
- No CISA SSVC assessment.
- No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
- No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
- No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.
Answered from this record
Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.
What should defenders know first?
CVE-2025-38716 is "hfs: fix general protection fault in hfs_find_init()", rated Medium. It affects Linux (Linux); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 5.5 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.15% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.
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