CVE-2025-38709

  • Published: 2025-09-04T16:15:39.997

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

loop: Avoid updating block size under exclusive owner

Syzbot came up with a reproducer where a loop device block size is
changed underneath a mounted filesystem. This causes a mismatch between
the block device block size and the block size stored in the superblock
causing confusion in various places such as fs/buffer.c. The particular
issue triggered by syzbot was a warning in __getblk_slow() due to
requested buffer size not matching block device block size.

Fix the problem by getting exclusive hold of the loop device to change
its block size. This fails if somebody (such as filesystem) has already
an exclusive ownership of the block device and thus prevents modifying
the loop device under some exclusive owner which doesn’t expect it.

Related CVE by CWE

No related CWE found.

Top CVE for Vendor

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Recently Exploited Similar Vulnerabilities

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How to fix CVE-2025-38709

CVE-2025-38709 is a unknown severity vulnerability affecting the affected product.

Description: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: loop: Avoid updating block size under exclusive owner Syzbot came up with a reproducer where a loop device block size is changed underneath a mounted filesystem. This causes a mismatch between the block device block size and the block size stored in the superblock causing […]

Exploit Difficulty: HARD
⏱️ Time to exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Required skills: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public exploits: Rare or not public

How to Fix:

1 Identify affected systems

- Check if you're running the affected product

2 Immediate actions

- Update to the latest patched version
- If patching is not immediately possible: restrict network exposure, apply least-privilege access

3 Verification

- Test the fix in a staging environment first
- Review logs for signs of exploitation
- Monitor for IOCs (Indicators of Compromise)

4 Long-term prevention

- Enable automatic security updates
- Set up vulnerability monitoring
- Review and harden security configurations

Exploit Difficulty Assessment

HARD
⏱️ Time to Exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Skills Required: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public Exploits: Rare or not public

Vulnerability Timeline

Sep 04, 2025
Vulnerability Published

CVE details first published to NVD database

Nov 12, 2025
Imported to Database

Added to this CVE tracking system

Detection Rules & IOCs

No specific detection rules generated for this vulnerability type.

No vendor/product data available.