Cloudanix VulnDB

CVE-2025-37931

Medium · 5.5

CVSS

5.5

EPSS

0.2%

Published

May 20, 2025

CISA due date

—

Cloudanix analysis

Next patch cycle SSVC: Track

A Linux kernel bug can cause important file system data to be skipped during writes on certain hardware setups, risking corrupted files or crashes until systems are updated.

Exploitation
Local Privilege
Attacker needs
Low Privilege
Complexity
Low
Impact
Data Tampering
Component
OS kernel
Class
Memory Corruption
Remediation
Upgrade
Effort
Medium
Patch risk
Low

What it actually does

Incorrect bit_start increment in btrfs subpage bitmap scanning for dirty extent buffers when sectorsize differs from nodesize on 64k page systems skips writes of dirty metadata blocks, causing tree log corruption and incomplete metadata writeouts.

Why it matters to the business

Filesystem corruption and potential data loss or system instability on Linux systems using btrfs with mismatched page/sector sizes; widespread impact across many Ubuntu distributions increases operational risk and recovery costs, though low exploitability limits immediate urgency.

How an attack unfolds

Local attacker triggers btrfs metadata operations under affected page/sector configurations to induce skipped dirty block writes, leading to corruption that may enable denial of service or chained local privilege escalation; listed threat actors highlight ongoing Linux kernel targeting but no direct ransomware link.

How to fix it

Upgrade affected packages to fixed versions including linux 3.11.0-12.19, 4.4.0-2.16, 4.4.0-1002.2, 4.8.0-39.42~16.04.1, 4.13.0-16.19, 4.15.0-1001.1, 5.0.0-15.16~18.04.1, 5.4.0-9.12 and equivalents for aws/azure/gcp/oracle/hwe/kvm variants on Ubuntu 14.04/16.04/18.04/20.04.

How to confirm the fix worked

Verify kernel package versions match fixed releases, reproduce btrfs metadata workloads on 64k page systems with 16k nodesize, and confirm absence of tree log corruption errors post-upgrade.

Typical attack path

  1. Obtain local access on affected Linux system
  2. Trigger btrfs extent buffer operations with 64k pagesize and smaller nodesize/sectorsize
  3. Cause subpage bitmap scan to miscalculate bit_start offsets
  4. Skip writeout of dirty metadata blocks
  5. Induce tree log corruption or filesystem inconsistencies

How to detect it

Review system logs for btrfs tree log corruption or extent buffer write errors; inspect for unexpected metadata inconsistencies after reboots or heavy btrfs activity on mixed sector/page configurations.

What your security team should do

  • Prioritize patching btrfs-using systems with the listed fixed Ubuntu kernel versions
  • Audit environments for 64k page size deployments with btrfs
  • Monitor EPSS trend and kernel advisories for related local corruption issues
  • Test filesystem integrity after upgrades

The record

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: adjust subpage bit start based on sectorsize When running machines with 64k page size and a 16k nodesize we started seeing tree log corruption in production. This turned out to be because we were not writing out dirty blocks sometimes, so this in fact affects all metadata writes. When writing out a subpage EB we scan the subpage bitmap for a dirty range. If the range isn't dirty we do bit_start++; to move onto the next bit. The problem is the bitmap is based on the number of sectors that an EB has. So in this case, we have a 64k pagesize, 16k nodesize, but a 4k sectorsize. This means our bitmap is 4 bits for every node. With a 64k page size we end up with 4 nodes per page. To make this easier this is how everything looks [0 16k 32k 48k ] logical address [0 4 8 12 ] radix tree offset [ 64k page ] folio [ 16k eb ][ 16k eb ][ 16k eb ][ 16k eb ] extent buffers [ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ] bitmap Now we use all of our addressing based on fs_info->sectorsize_bits, so as you can see the above our 16k eb->start turns into radix entry 4. When we find a dirty range for our eb, we correctly do bit_start += sectors_per_node, because if we start at bit 0, the next bit for the next eb is 4, to correspond to eb->start 16k. However if our range is clean, we will do bit_start++, which will now put us offset from our radix tree entries. In our case, assume that the first time we check the bitmap the block is not dirty, we increment bit_start so now it == 1, and then we loop around and check again. This time it is dirty, and we go to find that start using the following equation start = folio_start + bit_start * fs_info->sectorsize; so in the case above, eb->start 0 is now dirty, and we calculate start as 0 + 1 * fs_info->sectorsize = 4096 4096 >> 12 = 1 Now we're looking up the radix tree for 1, and we won't find an eb. What's worse is now we're using bit_start == 1, so we do bit_start += sectors_per_node, which is now 5. If that eb is dirty we will run into the same thing, we will look at an offset that is not populated in the radix tree, and now we're skipping the writeout of dirty extent buffers. The best fix for this is to not use sectorsize_bits to address nodes, but that's a larger change. Since this is a fs corruption problem fix it simply by always using sectors_per_node to increment the start bit.

Affected packages

Ecosystem Package Introduced Fixed
Debian:12 linux 0 No fix
Debian:13 linux 0 No fix
Debian:13 linux 0 6.12.29-1
Debian:14 linux 0 6.12.29-1
Linux Kernel 5.13.0 6.1.151
SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6-RT_Update_11 0 1-150600.1.3.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6_Update_12 0 1-150600.13.3.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-64kb 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-default-base 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1.150600.12.24.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-source 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-zfcpdump 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Confidential Computing Technical Preview 15 SP6 kernel-coco 0 6.4.0-15061.28.coco15sp6.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Confidential Computing Technical Preview 15 SP6 kernel-coco_debug 0 6.4.0-15061.28.coco15sp6.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Confidential Computing Technical Preview 15 SP6 kernel-source-coco 0 6.4.0-15061.28.coco15sp6.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Confidential Computing Technical Preview 15 SP6 kernel-syms-coco 0 6.4.0-15061.28.coco15sp6.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-docs 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-obs-build 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-source 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-syms 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Legacy 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 kernel-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.40.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 kernel-source-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.40.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 kernel-syms-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.40.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.39.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-rt_debug 0 6.4.0-150600.10.39.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-source-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.39.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-syms-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.39.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 dtb-aarch64 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-64kb 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.40.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-debug 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-default-base 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1.150600.12.24.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-docs 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-kvmsmall 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-obs-build 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-obs-qa 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.39.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-rt_debug 0 6.4.0-150600.10.39.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-source 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-source-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.40.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-source-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.39.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-syms 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-syms-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.40.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-syms-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.39.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-zfcpdump 0 6.4.0-150600.23.53.1

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