Medium severity · published Aug 19, 2025
CVE-2025-38614
eventpoll: Fix semi-unbounded recursion
5.5
CVSS
0.2%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
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.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.2% · higher than 8% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
KE
Kernel · Linux
2.6.32.30 before 2.6.33; 2.6.33.8 before 2.6.34; 2.6.34.10 before 2.6.35; 2.6.35.12 before 2.6.36; 2.6.37.3 before 2.6.38; 2.6.38.1 before 5.15.190; +8 more · source: NVD
LI
Linux · Linux
22bacca48a1755f79b7e0f192ddb9fbb7fc6e64e before 71379495ab70eaba19224bd71b5b9b399eb85e04; 22bacca48a1755f79b7e0f192ddb9fbb7fc6e64e before 1b13b033062824495554e836a1ff5f85ccf6b039; 22bacca48a1755f79b7e0f192ddb9fbb7fc6e64e before 2a0c0c974bea9619c6f41794775ae4b97530e0e6; 22bacca48a1755f79b7e0f192ddb9fbb7fc6e64e before 7a2125962c42d5336ca0495a9ce4cb38a63e9161; 22bacca48a1755f79b7e0f192ddb9fbb7fc6e64e before ea5f97dbdcb1651581a22bd10afd2f0dd9dc11d6; 22bacca48a1755f79b7e0f192ddb9fbb7fc6e64e before 3542c90797bc3ab83ebab54b737d751cf3682036; +12 more · source: vendor
DL
Debian Linux · Debian
11.0 · source: NVD
SC
SIMATIC CN 4100 · Siemens
before V5.0 · source: CISA
SS
SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP · Siemens
V3.1.5; V3.1.6; V3.1.7; V3.1.5; V3.1.6; V3.1.7 · source: CISA
SS
SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518F-4 PN/DP MFP · Siemens
V3.1.5; V3.1.6; V3.1.7; V3.1.5; V3.1.6; V3.1.7 · source: CISA
SS
SIPLUS S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP · Siemens
V3.1.5; V3.1.6; V3.1.7 · source: CISA