In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
eventpoll: Fix semi-unbounded recursion
Ensure that epoll instances can never form a graph deeper than
EP_MAX_NESTS+1 links.
Currently, ep_loop_check_proc() ensures that the graph is loop-free and
does some recursion depth checks, but those recursion depth checks don't
limit the depth of the resulting tree for two reasons:
- They don't look upwards in the tree.
- If there are multiple downwards paths of different lengths, only one of
the paths is actually considered for the depth check since commit
28d82dc1c4ed ("epoll: limit paths").
Essentially, the current recursion depth check in ep_loop_check_proc() just
serves to prevent it from recursing too deeply while checking for loops.
A more thorough check is done in reverse_path_check() after the new graph
edge has already been created; this checks, among other things, that no
paths going upwards from any non-epoll file with a length of more than 5
edges exist. However, this check does not apply to non-epoll files.
As a result, it is possible to recurse to a depth of at least roughly 500,
tested on v6.15. (I am unsure if deeper recursion is possible; and this may
have changed with commit 8c44dac8add7 ("eventpoll: Fix priority inversion
problem").)
To fix it:
1. In ep_loop_check_proc(), note the subtree depth of each visited node,
and use subtree depths for the total depth calculation even when a subtree
has already been visited.
2. Add ep_get_upwards_depth_proc() for similarly determining the maximum
depth of an upwards walk.
3. In ep_loop_check(), use these values to limit the total path length
between epoll nodes to EP_MAX_NESTS edges.
References
Configurations
Configuration 1 (hide)
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Configuration 2 (hide)
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History
09 Jan 2026, 16:08
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| CWE | CWE-674 | |
| First Time |
Linux
Debian Debian debian Linux Linux linux Kernel |
|
| CVSS |
v2 : v3 : |
v2 : unknown
v3 : 5.5 |
| References | () https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1b13b033062824495554e836a1ff5f85ccf6b039 - Patch | |
| References | () https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2a0c0c974bea9619c6f41794775ae4b97530e0e6 - Patch | |
| References | () https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3542c90797bc3ab83ebab54b737d751cf3682036 - Patch | |
| References | () https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/71379495ab70eaba19224bd71b5b9b399eb85e04 - Patch | |
| References | () https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7a2125962c42d5336ca0495a9ce4cb38a63e9161 - Patch | |
| References | () https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ea5f97dbdcb1651581a22bd10afd2f0dd9dc11d6 - Patch | |
| References | () https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f2e467a48287c868818085aa35389a224d226732 - Patch | |
| References | () https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html - Third Party Advisory | |
| CPE | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.38:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.38:rc8:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.38:-:*:*:*:*:*:* |
03 Nov 2025, 18:16
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| References |
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28 Aug 2025, 15:15
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| References |
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20 Aug 2025, 18:15
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| References |
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20 Aug 2025, 14:40
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Summary |
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19 Aug 2025, 17:15
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| New CVE |
Information
Published : 2025-08-19 17:15
Updated : 2026-01-09 16:08
NVD link : CVE-2025-38614
Mitre link : CVE-2025-38614
CVE.ORG link : CVE-2025-38614
JSON object : View
Products Affected
debian
- debian_linux
linux
- linux_kernel
CWE
CWE-674
Uncontrolled Recursion
