CVE-2025-38203
Medium · 5.5CVSS
5.5
EPSS
0.2%
Published
Jul 4, 2025
CISA due date
—
Cloudanix analysis
A bug in Linux can make computers using a certain older file system crash when users run specific commands, causing unexpected restarts and lost work.
- Exploitation
- Local Privilege
- Attacker needs
- Low Privilege
- Complexity
- Moderate
- Impact
- Denial Of Service
- Component
- OS kernel
- Class
- Memory Corruption
- Remediation
- Upgrade
- Effort
- Medium
- Patch risk
- Low
What it actually does
Null pointer dereference in jfs_ioc_trim within the JFS filesystem module due to a concurrency issue where JFS_SBI(ipbmap->i_sb)->bmap can be set to NULL in dbFreeBits and then dereferenced, resulting in a kernel general protection fault and panic.
Why it matters to the business
Systems using the JFS filesystem may experience unexpected crashes and restarts when local users perform certain file operations or ioctls, leading to downtime and potential data inconsistency in affected environments.
How an attack unfolds
An attacker with local access on a system using JFS mounts a filesystem, issues a specific ioctl (FITRIM) via jfs_ioctl, and exploits a race condition that sets a critical bmap pointer to NULL before it is dereferenced in jfs_ioc_trim, triggering the fault. Related threat actors have demonstrated privilege escalation techniques in similar Linux kernel flaws, though this instance primarily enables denial of service.
How to fix it
Update the Linux kernel to a version containing commit 0d50231d473f89024158dc62624930de45d13718 or later stable releases that address the null pointer dereference in jfs_ioc_trim. For affected packages such as azuredisk-csi-fips-1.29, upgrade to version 1.29.14-r3 or equivalent.
How to confirm the fix worked
Verify the running kernel includes the referenced fix commit; attempt reproduction using syzkaller-style test cases targeting jfs_ioc_trim and confirm absence of the general protection fault and kernel panic.
Typical attack path
- Gain local user access to a Linux system with JFS filesystem support enabled
- Create or access a JFS filesystem and trigger concurrent operations involving dbFreeBits
- Issue FITRIM ioctl through jfs_ioc_trim path
- Exploit the timing window to cause null pointer dereference leading to kernel panic
How to detect it
Search kernel logs (dmesg, /var/log/kern.log, journalctl) for oops or panic messages containing jfs_ioc_trim in the call trace, general protection fault references to non-canonical addresses, and KASAN null-ptr-deref reports in the 0x438 range.
- jfs_ioc_trim+0x34b/0x8f0
- KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000438-0x000000000000043f]
- general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000087
- RIP: 0010:jfs_ioc_trim
What your security team should do
- Prioritize kernel upgrades to the fixed commit across all JFS-using systems within the next maintenance window given the 480 days since publication
- Disable JFS filesystem module if not required (blacklist jfs)
- Monitor for kernel oops reports involving jfs_ioc_trim
- Review and restrict local user permissions on systems hosting JFS volumes
The record
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: jfs: Fix null-ptr-deref in jfs_ioc_trim [ Syzkaller Report ] Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000087: 0000 [#1 KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000438-0x000000000000043f] CPU: 2 UID: 0 PID: 10614 Comm: syz-executor.0 Not tainted 6.13.0-rc6-gfbfd64d25c7a-dirty #1 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.15.0-1 04/01/2014 Sched_ext: serialise (enabled+all), task: runnable_at=-30ms RIP: 0010:jfs_ioc_trim+0x34b/0x8f0 Code: e7 e8 59 a4 87 fe 4d 8b 24 24 4d 8d bc 24 38 04 00 00 48 8d 93 90 82 fe ff 4c 89 ff 31 f6 RSP: 0018:ffffc900055f7cd0 EFLAGS: 00010206 RAX: 0000000000000087 RBX: 00005866a9e67ff8 RCX: 000000000000000a RDX: 0000000000000001 RSI: 0000000000000004 RDI: 0000000000000001 RBP: dffffc0000000000 R08: ffff88807c180003 R09: 1ffff1100f830000 R10: dffffc0000000000 R11: ffffed100f830001 R12: 0000000000000000 R13: 0000000000000000 R14: 0000000000000001 R15: 0000000000000438 FS: 00007fe520225640(0000) GS:ffff8880b7e80000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00005593c91b2c88 CR3: 000000014927c000 CR4: 00000000000006f0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: <TASK> ? __die_body+0x61/0xb0 ? die_addr+0xb1/0xe0 ? exc_general_protection+0x333/0x510 ? asm_exc_general_protection+0x26/0x30 ? jfs_ioc_trim+0x34b/0x8f0 jfs_ioctl+0x3c8/0x4f0 ? __pfx_jfs_ioctl+0x10/0x10 ? __pfx_jfs_ioctl+0x10/0x10 __se_sys_ioctl+0x269/0x350 ? __pfx___se_sys_ioctl+0x10/0x10 ? do_syscall_64+0xfb/0x210 do_syscall_64+0xee/0x210 ? syscall_exit_to_user_mode+0x1e0/0x330 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f RIP: 0033:0x7fe51f4903ad Code: c3 e8 a7 2b 00 00 0f 1f 80 00 00 00 00 f3 0f 1e fa 48 89 f8 48 89 f7 48 89 d6 48 89 ca 4d RSP: 002b:00007fe5202250c8 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000010 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007fe51f5cbf80 RCX: 00007fe51f4903ad RDX: 0000000020000680 RSI: 00000000c0185879 RDI: 0000000000000005 RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 00007fe520225640 R13: 000000000000000e R14: 00007fe51f44fca0 R15: 00007fe52021d000 </TASK> Modules linked in: ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- RIP: 0010:jfs_ioc_trim+0x34b/0x8f0 Code: e7 e8 59 a4 87 fe 4d 8b 24 24 4d 8d bc 24 38 04 00 00 48 8d 93 90 82 fe ff 4c 89 ff 31 f6 RSP: 0018:ffffc900055f7cd0 EFLAGS: 00010206 RAX: 0000000000000087 RBX: 00005866a9e67ff8 RCX: 000000000000000a RDX: 0000000000000001 RSI: 0000000000000004 RDI: 0000000000000001 RBP: dffffc0000000000 R08: ffff88807c180003 R09: 1ffff1100f830000 R10: dffffc0000000000 R11: ffffed100f830001 R12: 0000000000000000 R13: 0000000000000000 R14: 0000000000000001 R15: 0000000000000438 FS: 00007fe520225640(0000) GS:ffff8880b7e80000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00005593c91b2c88 CR3: 000000014927c000 CR4: 00000000000006f0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception [ Analysis ] We believe that we have found a concurrency bug in the `fs/jfs` module that results in a null pointer dereference. There is a closely related issue which has been fixed: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=d6c1b3599b2feb5c7291f5ac3a36e5fa7cedb234 ... but, unfortunately, the accepted patch appears to still be susceptible to a null pointer dereference under some interleavings. To trigger the bug, we think that `JFS_SBI(ipbmap->i_sb)->bmap` is set to NULL in `dbFreeBits` and then dereferenced in `jfs_ioc_trim`. This bug manifests quite rarely under normal circumstances, but is triggereable from a syz-program.
Affected packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Introduced | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chainguard | hyperv-daemons-6.12 | 0 | 6.12.63-r0 |
| Chainguard | linux-aws-6.12-boot-installed | 0 | 6.12.63-r0 |
| Chainguard | linux-aws-6.12-fips-boot-installed | 0 | 6.12.63-r0 |
| Chainguard | linux-aws-6.12-headers | 0 | 6.12.63-r0 |
| Chainguard | linux-aws-6.12-modules | 0 | 6.12.63-r0 |
| Chainguard | linux-azure-6.12-boot-installed | 0 | 6.12.63-r0 |
| Chainguard | linux-azure-6.12-fips-boot-installed | 0 | 6.12.63-r0 |
| Chainguard | linux-azure-6.12-headers | 0 | 6.12.63-r0 |
| Chainguard | linux-azure-6.12-modules | 0 | 6.12.63-r0 |
| Chainguard | linux-gcp-6.12-boot-installed | 0 | 6.12.63-r0 |
| Chainguard | linux-gcp-6.12-fips-boot-installed | 0 | 6.12.63-r0 |
| Chainguard | linux-gcp-6.12-headers | 0 | 6.12.63-r0 |
| Chainguard | linux-gcp-6.12-modules | 0 | 6.12.63-r0 |
| Chainguard | linux-qemu-6.12-boot-installed | 0 | 6.12.63-r0 |
| Chainguard | linux-qemu-6.12-fips-boot-installed | 0 | 6.12.63-r0 |
| Chainguard | linux-qemu-6.12-headers | 0 | 6.12.63-r0 |
| Chainguard | linux-qemu-6.12-modules | 0 | 6.12.63-r0 |
| Chainguard | linux-vmware-6.12-boot-installed | 0 | 6.12.63-r0 |
| Chainguard | linux-vmware-6.12-fips-boot-installed | 0 | 6.12.63-r0 |
| Chainguard | linux-vmware-6.12-headers | 0 | 6.12.63-r0 |
| Chainguard | linux-vmware-6.12-modules | 0 | 6.12.63-r0 |
| Debian:11 | linux | 0 | No fix |
| Debian:12 | linux | 0 | 5.16.7-1 |
| Debian:13 | linux | 0 | 5.16.7-1 |
| Linux | Kernel | 3.7.0 | 5.4.295 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.65.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.65.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 | kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6-RT_Update_14 | 0 | 1-150600.1.5.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 | kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6_Update_14 | 0 | 1-150600.13.3.4 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP7 | kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7-RT_Update_3 | 0 | 1-150700.1.5.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | kernel-64kb | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.65.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.65.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | kernel-default-base | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.65.1.150600.12.28.4 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | kernel-source | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.65.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | kernel-zfcpdump | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.65.1 |
| 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 | 6.4.0-150600.23.65.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 | kernel-obs-build | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.65.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 | kernel-source | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.65.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 | kernel-syms | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.65.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Legacy 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.65.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 | kernel-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.48.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 | kernel-source-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.48.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 | kernel-syms-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.48.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.65.1 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 | kernel-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.49.1 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 | kernel-rt_debug | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.49.1 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 | kernel-source-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.49.1 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 | kernel-syms-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.49.1 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP7 | kernel-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150700.7.13.1 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP7 | kernel-source-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150700.7.13.1 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP7 | kernel-syms-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150700.7.13.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | dtb-aarch64 | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.65.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-64kb | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.65.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.48.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-debug | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.65.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.65.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-default-base | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.65.1.150600.12.28.4 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-docs | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.65.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-kvmsmall | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.65.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-obs-build | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.65.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-obs-qa | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.65.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.49.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-rt_debug | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.49.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-source | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.65.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-source-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.48.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-source-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.49.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-syms | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.65.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-syms-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.48.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-syms-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.49.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-zfcpdump | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.65.1 |
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