CVE-2025-38627

Local privilege escalation via deferred inode use-after-free

Published Aug 22, 2025 · Updated Aug 5, 2026

Use-after-free in Linux kernel F2FS compression in 6.0 through 6.16 allows local users to access kernel memory or crash the system. f2fs_free_dic dereferences dic->inode after asynchronous decompression cleanup allows RCU to free the associated f2fs_inode_info. Reachability requires a compression-enabled F2FS volume, ordinary access to create and delete a file, and delayed post-read work; successful memory corruption grants kernel-level control.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.17%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Use-after-free in Linux kernel F2FS compression in 6.0 through 6.16 allows local users to access kernel memory or crash the system. f2fs_free_dic dereferences dic->inode after asynchronous decompression cleanup allows RCU to free the associated f2fs_inode_info. Reachability requires a compression-enabled F2FS volume, ordinary access to create and delete a file, and delayed post-read work; successful memory corruption grants kernel-level control.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-38627
Published
Aug 22, 2025
Updated
Aug 5, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-416, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 22, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=6.0
  2. Affected versionversion=bff139b49d9f70c1ac5384aac94554846aa834de <39868685c2a94a70762bc6d77dc81d781d05bff5
  3. Affected versionversion=bff139b49d9f70c1ac5384aac94554846aa834de <5d604d40cd3232b09cb339941ef958e49283ed0a
  4. Affected versionversion=bff139b49d9f70c1ac5384aac94554846aa834de <74cbeeca4f16823ba58c882e1d8b836c0e39c93d
  5. Affected versionversion=bff139b49d9f70c1ac5384aac94554846aa834de <8fae5b6addd5f6895e03797b56e3c7b9f9cd15c9
  6. Affected versionversion=bff139b49d9f70c1ac5384aac94554846aa834de <cc81768212cdc509e5a986274db7bc24d18cde19

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=6.0; version=bff139b49d9f70c1ac5384aac94554846aa834de <39868685c2a94a70762bc6d77dc81d781d05bff5; version=bff139b49d9f70c1ac5384aac94554846aa834de <5d604d40cd3232b09cb339941ef958e49283ed0a; version=bff139b49d9f70c1ac5384aac94554846aa834de <74cbeeca4f16823ba58c882e1d8b836c0e39c93d; version=bff139b49d9f70c1ac5384aac94554846aa834de <8fae5b6addd5f6895e03797b56e3c7b9f9cd15c9; version=bff139b49d9f70c1ac5384aac94554846aa834de <cc81768212cdc509e5a986274db7bc24d18cde19

Published CVSS scores

7.8CanonicalCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
7.3CanonicalCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
7.8Linux Kernel CNACVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-416Use After Free
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

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

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Your stack

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