Use After Free in Linux
CVE-2025-39691
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs/buffer: fix use-after-free when call bh_read() helper There's issue as follows: BUG: KASAN: stack-out-of-bounds in end_buffer_read_sync+0xe3/0x110 Read of size 8 at addr ffffc9000168f7f8 by task swapper/3/0 CPU: 3 UID: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/3 Not tainted 6.16.0-862.14.0.6.x86_64 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996) Call Trace: <IRQ> dump_stack_lvl+0x55/0x70 print_address_description.constprop.0+0x2c/0x390 print_report+0xb4/0x270 kasan_report+0xb8/0xf0 end_buffer_read_sync+0xe3/0x110 end_bio_bh_io_sync+0x56/0x80 blk_update_request+0x30a/0x720 scsi_end_request+0x51/0x2b0 scsi_io_completion+0xe3/0x480 ? scsi_device_unbusy+0x11e/0x160 blk_complete_reqs+0x7b/0x90 handle_softirqs+0xef/0x370 irq_exit_rcu+0xa5/0xd0 sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt+0x6e/0x90 </IRQ> Above issue happens when do ntfs3 filesystem mount, issue may happens as follows: mount IRQ ntfs_fill_super read_cache_page do_read_cache_folio filemap_read_folio mpage_read_folio do_mpage_readpage ntfs_get_block_vbo bh_read submit_bh wait_on_buffer(bh); blk_complete_reqs scsi_io_completion scsi_end_request blk_update_request end_bio_bh_io_sync end_buffer_read_sync __end_buffer_read_notouch unlock_buffer wait_on_buffer(bh);--> return will return to caller put_bh --> trigger stack-out-of-bounds In the mpage_read_folio() function, the stack variable 'map_bh' is passed to ntfs_get_block_vbo(). Once unlock_buffer() unlocks and wait_on_buffer() returns to continue processing, the stack variable is likely to be reclaimed. Consequently, during the end_buffer_read_sync() process, calling put_bh() may result in stack overrun. If the bh is not allocated on the stack, it belongs to a folio. Freeing a buffer head which belongs to a folio is done by drop_buffers() which will fail to free buffers which are still locked. So it is safe to call put_bh() before __end_buffer_read_notouch().
Vulnerability class: Use-After-Free
EPSS: 0.002 (5.9th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.
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.
Affected products
- Linux — versions 1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2, 2.6.12, 0
- Linux Linux_kernel — versions 2.6.12, 6.17
- Debian Debian_linux — versions 11.0
Weakness classification (CWE)
Public proof-of-concept exploits
References
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 (Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 (Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2025-39691?
- CVE-2025-39691 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under Use After Free. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2025-09-05.
- How severe is CVE-2025-39691?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.
- Is CVE-2025-39691 known to be exploited?
- 1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.