CVE-2025-38614
eventpoll: Fix semi-unbounded recursion
Severity Score
Exploit Likelihood
Affected Versions
Public Exploits
0Exploited in Wild
-Decision
Descriptions
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.
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 Scores
SSVC
- Decision:-
Timeline
- 2025-04-16 CVE Reserved
- 2025-08-19 CVE Published
- 2025-08-20 CVE Updated
- 2025-08-20 EPSS Updated
- ---------- Exploited in Wild
- ---------- KEV Due Date
- ---------- First Exploit
CWE
CAPEC
References (10)
URL | Tag | Source |
---|---|---|
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/22bacca48a1755f79b7e0f192ddb9fbb7fc6e64e | Vuln. Introduced | |
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8216e1a0d47cae06a75c42346f19dffe14e42d57 | Vuln. Introduced | |
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/28a92748aa4bc57d35e7b079498b0ac2e7610a37 | Vuln. Introduced | |
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7eebcd4792c5a341559aed327b6afecbb1c46402 | Vuln. Introduced | |
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0eccd188cfeaf857a26f2d72941d27d298cf6a54 | Vuln. Introduced | |
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a72affdbb09f3f24f64ffcbbdf62c2e57c58f379 | Vuln. Introduced |
URL | Date | SRC |
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URL | Date | SRC |
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Affected Vendors, Products, and Versions
Vendor | Product | Version | Other | Status | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Vendor | Product | Version | Other | Status | <-- --> | Vendor | Product | Version | Other | Status |
Linux Search vendor "Linux" | Linux Kernel Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" | >= 2.6.38 < 6.12.43 Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 2.6.38 < 6.12.43" | en |
Affected
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Linux Search vendor "Linux" | Linux Kernel Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" | >= 2.6.38 < 6.15.11 Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 2.6.38 < 6.15.11" | en |
Affected
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Linux Search vendor "Linux" | Linux Kernel Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" | >= 2.6.38 < 6.16.1 Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 2.6.38 < 6.16.1" | en |
Affected
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Linux Search vendor "Linux" | Linux Kernel Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" | >= 2.6.38 < 6.17-rc1 Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 2.6.38 < 6.17-rc1" | en |
Affected
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Linux Search vendor "Linux" | Linux Kernel Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" | 2.6.32.30 Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version "2.6.32.30" | en |
Affected
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Linux Search vendor "Linux" | Linux Kernel Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" | 2.6.33.8 Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version "2.6.33.8" | en |
Affected
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Linux Search vendor "Linux" | Linux Kernel Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" | 2.6.34.10 Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version "2.6.34.10" | en |
Affected
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Linux Search vendor "Linux" | Linux Kernel Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" | 2.6.35.12 Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version "2.6.35.12" | en |
Affected
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Linux Search vendor "Linux" | Linux Kernel Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" | 2.6.37.3 Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version "2.6.37.3" | en |
Affected
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