CVE-2025-40306

EPSS 0.1%
  • Published: 2025-12-08T01:16:02.820

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

orangefs: fix xattr related buffer overflow…

Willy Tarreau forwarded me a message from
Disclosure with the following
warning:

> The helper `xattr_key()` uses the pointer variable in the loop condition
> rather than dereferencing it. As `key` is incremented, it remains non-NULL
> (until it runs into unmapped memory), so the loop does not terminate on
> valid C strings and will walk memory indefinitely, consuming CPU or hanging
> the thread.

I easily reproduced this with setfattr and getfattr, causing a kernel
oops, hung user processes and corrupted orangefs files. Disclosure
sent along a diff (not a patch) with a suggested fix, which I based
this patch on.

After xattr_key started working right, xfstest generic/069 exposed an
xattr related memory leak that lead to OOM. xattr_key returns
a hashed key. When adding xattrs to the orangefs xattr cache, orangefs
used hash_add, a kernel hashing macro. hash_add also hashes the key using
hash_log which resulted in additions to the xattr cache going to the wrong
hash bucket. generic/069 tortures a single file and orangefs does a
getattr for the xattr “security.capability” every time. Orangefs
negative caches on xattrs which includes a kmalloc. Since adds to the
xattr cache were going to the wrong bucket, every getattr for
“security.capability” resulted in another kmalloc, none of which were
ever freed.

I changed the two uses of hash_add to hlist_add_head instead
and the memory leak ceased and generic/069 quit throwing furniture.

Related CVE by CWE

No related CWE found.

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Recently Exploited Similar Vulnerabilities

No recent KEV-listed items for this vendor/product.

How to fix CVE-2025-40306

CVE-2025-40306 is a unknown severity vulnerability affecting the affected product.

Description: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: orangefs: fix xattr related buffer overflow… Willy Tarreau forwarded me a message from Disclosure with the following warning: > The helper `xattr_key()` uses the pointer variable in the loop condition > rather than dereferencing it. As `key` is incremented, it remains non-NULL > (until it […]

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

Dec 08, 2025
Vulnerability Published

CVE details first published to NVD database

Dec 08, 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.