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
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38614
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-38614
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1b13b033062824495554e836a1ff5f85ccf6b039
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2a0c0c974bea9619c6f41794775ae4b97530e0e6
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3542c90797bc3ab83ebab54b737d751cf3682036
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/71379495ab70eaba19224bd71b5b9b399eb85e04
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7a2125962c42d5336ca0495a9ce4cb38a63e9161
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ea5f97dbdcb1651581a22bd10afd2f0dd9dc11d6
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