Kernel crash via interrupt-context dirty-page call
Published May 20, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026
A denial of service in Linux allows local users to crash the kernel through block-integrity I/O using protection information buffers. The block integrity completion path places multiple protection information buffers on one page, then bio_integrity_unpin_bvec() calls set_page_dirty_lock() from interrupt context even though those pages are not file-backed. Reachability requires local low-privileged access and storage I/O using protection information; the bounded consequence is a kernel oops and service interruption.
Summary
What happened
A denial of service in Linux allows local users to crash the kernel through block-integrity I/O using protection information buffers. The block integrity completion path places multiple protection information buffers on one page, then bio_integrity_unpin_bvec() calls set_page_dirty_lock() from interrupt context even though those pages are not file-backed. Reachability requires local low-privileged access and storage I/O using protection information; the bounded consequence is a kernel oops and service interruption.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-37978
- Published
- May 20, 2025
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 20, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=492c5d455969fc2e829f26ed4c83487b068f0dd7 <39e160505198ff8c158f11bce2ba19809a756e8b
- Affected versionversion=492c5d455969fc2e829f26ed4c83487b068f0dd7 <9487fc1a10b3aa89feb24e7cedeccaaf63074617
- Affected versionversion=492c5d455969fc2e829f26ed4c83487b068f0dd7 <c38a005e6efb9ddfa06bd8353b82379d6fd5d6c4
- Affected versionversion=6.8
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo