NULL pointer dereference in Linux
CVE-2025-71295
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs/buffer: add alert in try_to_free_buffers() for folios without buffers try_to_free_buffers() can be called on folios with no buffers attached when filemap_release_folio() is invoked on a folio belonging to a mapping with AS_RELEASE_ALWAYS set but no release_folio operation defined. In such cases, folio_needs_release() returns true because of the AS_RELEASE_ALWAYS flag, but the folio has no private buffer data. This causes try_to_free_buffers() to call drop_buffers() on a folio with no buffers, leading to a null pointer dereference. Adding a check in try_to_free_buffers() to return early if the folio has no buffers attached, with WARN_ON_ONCE() to alert about the misconfiguration. This provides defensive hardening.
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 5.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.001 (1.8th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 2nd percentile — 1.8% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.001 · newest: 0.001 · change: 0.000
Affected products
- Linux — versions 6.1.72, 6.1.165, b4fa966f03b7401ceacd4ffd7227197afb2b8376
- Linux Kernel
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2025-71295?
- CVE-2025-71295 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under NULL Pointer Dereference. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2026-05-06.
- How severe is CVE-2025-71295?
- Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.