Local privilege escalation via exFAT buffer use-after-free
Published Apr 16, 2025 · Updated Aug 5, 2026
Use-after-free in Linux kernel exFAT allows local users to corrupt kernel stack memory through reads from a mounted exFAT volume. In fs/exfat/inode.c, exfat_get_block calls bh_read on a stack-allocated buffer_head; deferred put_bh then decrements its reference count after the stack object has expired. An unprivileged account needs read/write access to an already-mounted exFAT volume and can drive the race to crash the kernel or escalate privileges.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in Linux kernel exFAT allows local users to corrupt kernel stack memory through reads from a mounted exFAT volume. In fs/exfat/inode.c, exfat_get_block calls bh_read on a stack-allocated buffer_head; deferred put_bh then decrements its reference count after the stack object has expired. An unprivileged account needs read/write access to an already-mounted exFAT volume and can drive the race to crash the kernel or escalate privileges.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-22036
- Published
- Apr 16, 2025
- Updated
- Aug 5, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-416, CWE-362, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Apr 16, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 5, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=11a347fb6cef62ce47e84b97c45f2b2497c7593b <1bb7ff4204b6d4927e982cd256286c09ed4fd8ca
- Affected versionversion=11a347fb6cef62ce47e84b97c45f2b2497c7593b <49b0a6ab8e528a0c1c50e37cef9b9c7c121365f2
- Affected versionversion=11a347fb6cef62ce47e84b97c45f2b2497c7593b <f7447286363dc1e410bf30b87d75168f3519f9cc
- Affected versionversion=11a347fb6cef62ce47e84b97c45f2b2497c7593b <f807a6bf2005740fa26b4f59c4a003dc966b9afd
- Affected versionversion=6.8
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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