CVE Catalog

CVE-2025-21887

HighCVSS 7.8
Published: Updated: Translated: NVD NIST

Exploitation Probability (EPSS)

Low risk
0.18%

8th percentile - higher than 8% of all known CVEs

Summary

A use-after-free (UAF) vulnerability was discovered in the Linux kernel's OverlayFS filesystem. The issue occurs in ovl_dentry_update_reval where premature dput(upper) call leads to accessing freed dentry memory. KASAN reported the bug which can cause undefined system behavior.

Risk Assessment

The vulnerability could allow a local attacker to trigger a system panic or potentially escalate privileges by manipulating kernel memory structures. Systems using OverlayFS overlays, especially container environments, are at risk.

Recommendation

Immediately update the Linux kernel to a version containing the fix (commit moving dput() after its last use). For production systems, apply the security patch from your distributor.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

See all
Original NVD description (English source)

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ovl: fix UAF in ovl_dentry_update_reval by moving dput() in ovl_link_up The issue was caused by dput(upper) being called before ovl_dentry_update_reval(), while upper->d_flags was still accessed in ovl_dentry_remote(). Move dput(upper) after its last use to prevent use-after-free. BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in ovl_dentry_remote fs/overlayfs/util.c:162 [inline] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in ovl_dentry_update_reval+0xd2/0xf0 fs/overlayfs/util.c:167 Call Trace: <TASK> __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:88 [inline] dump_stack_lvl+0x116/0x1f0 lib/dump_stack.c:114 print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:377 [inline] print_report+0xc3/0x620 mm/kasan/report.c:488 kasan_report+0xd9/0x110 mm/kasan/report.c:601 ovl_dentry_remote fs/overlayfs/util.c:162 [inline] ovl_dentry_update_reval+0xd2/0xf0 fs/overlayfs/util.c:167 ovl_link_up fs/overlayfs/copy_up.c:610 [inline] ovl_copy_up_one+0x2105/0x3490 fs/overlayfs/copy_up.c:1170 ovl_copy_up_flags+0x18d/0x200 fs/overlayfs/copy_up.c:1223 ovl_rename+0x39e/0x18c0 fs/overlayfs/dir.c:1136 vfs_rename+0xf84/0x20a0 fs/namei.c:4893 ... </TASK>

Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS