Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-38650

Linux Kernel 4.19 – 5.4.297

Published
22 August 2025
Modified
17 June 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0013 3th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-38650 is a medium-severity Improper Locking (CWE-667) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 5.5 (Medium).

Operationally, ranked at the 3th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) and CM-7 (Least Functionality) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: hfsplus: remove mutex_lock check in hfsplus_free_extents Syzbot reported an issue in hfsplus filesystem: ------------[ cut here ]------------ WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 4400 at fs/hfsplus/extents.c:346 hfsplus_free_extents+0x700/0xad0 Call Trace: <TASK> hfsplus_file_truncate+0x768/0xbb0 fs/hfsplus/extents.c:606…

more

hfsplus_write_begin+0xc2/0xd0 fs/hfsplus/inode.c:56 cont_expand_zero fs/buffer.c:2383 [inline] cont_write_begin+0x2cf/0x860 fs/buffer.c:2446 hfsplus_write_begin+0x86/0xd0 fs/hfsplus/inode.c:52 generic_cont_expand_simple+0x151/0x250 fs/buffer.c:2347 hfsplus_setattr+0x168/0x280 fs/hfsplus/inode.c:263 notify_change+0xe38/0x10f0 fs/attr.c:420 do_truncate+0x1fb/0x2e0 fs/open.c:65 do_sys_ftruncate+0x2eb/0x380 fs/open.c:193 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x3d/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd To avoid deadlock, Commit 31651c607151 ("hfsplus: avoid deadlock on file truncation") unlock extree before hfsplus_free_extents(), and add check wheather extree is locked in hfsplus_free_extents(). However, when operations such as hfsplus_file_release, hfsplus_setattr, hfsplus_unlink, and hfsplus_get_block are executed concurrently in different files, it is very likely to trigger the WARN_ON, which will lead syzbot and xfstest to consider it as an abnormality. The comment above this warning also describes one of the easy triggering situations, which can easily trigger and cause xfstest&syzbot to report errors. [task A] [task B] ->hfsplus_file_release ->hfsplus_file_truncate ->hfs_find_init ->mutex_lock ->mutex_unlock ->hfsplus_write_begin ->hfsplus_get_block ->hfsplus_file_extend ->hfsplus_ext_read_extent ->hfs_find_init ->mutex_lock ->hfsplus_free_extents WARN_ON(mutex_is_locked) !!! Several threads could try to lock the shared extents tree. And warning can be triggered in one thread when another thread has locked the tree. This is the wrong behavior of the code and we need to remove the warning.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

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Affected Assets

linux
linux kernel
4.19 — 5.4.297 · 5.5 — 5.10.241 · 5.11 — 5.15.190
debian
debian linux
11.0

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-2 Flaw Remediation
  • CM-7 Least Functionality
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)
Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly addresses the CVE by requiring timely application of the kernel patch that removes the erroneous mutex check in hfsplus_free_extents.

prevent

Restricts loading or use of the hfsplus module, eliminating exposure to the locking flaw during concurrent truncate/setattr operations.

detect

Ensures the spurious WARN_ON in hfsplus_free_extents is treated as a handled error condition rather than a false-positive failure indicator.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly include code reviews, static analysis, and concurrency standards that prevent improper locking.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

detects

Security testing can detect race conditions and locking errors before release.

prevents

Secure development lifecycle includes concurrency and locking requirements that reduce improper locking defects.

prevents

Application security requirements can mandate proper lock acquisition/release patterns.

prevents

Secure architecture principles address thread-safety and resource synchronization.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly prohibit missing or incorrect lock usage.

prevents

Change management may catch locking issues introduced by modifications but does not prevent the weakness itself.

References