Use After Free in Linux
CVE-2025-21896
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fuse: revert back to __readahead_folio() for readahead In commit 3eab9d7bc2f4 ("fuse: convert readahead to use folios"), the logic was converted to using the new folio readahead code, which drops the reference on the folio once it is locked, using an inferred reference on the folio. Previously we held a reference on the folio for the entire duration of the readpages call. This is fine, however for the case for splice pipe responses where we will remove the old folio and splice in the new folio (see fuse_try_move_page()), we assume that there is a reference held on the folio for ap->folios, which is no longer the case. To fix this, revert back to __readahead_folio() which allows us to hold the reference on the folio for the duration of readpages until either we drop the reference ourselves in fuse_readpages_end() or the reference is dropped after it's replaced in the page cache in the splice case. This will fix the UAF bug that was reported.
Vulnerability class: Use-After-Free
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.002 (10.6th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 11th percentile — 10.6% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.002 · newest: 0.002 · change: +0.000
Affected products
- Linux — versions 3eab9d7bc2f4ae7f3f9c9c7852ff61600df79856, 6.13, 0
- Linux Kernel — versions 6.14
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2025-21896?
- CVE-2025-21896 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under Use After Free. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2025-04-01.
- How severe is CVE-2025-21896?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.