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In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been...

Moderate severity Unreviewed Published Aug 16, 2025 to the GitHub Advisory Database • Updated Nov 19, 2025

Package

No package listedSuggest a package

Affected versions

Unknown

Patched versions

Unknown

Description

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

cifs: Fix the smbd_response slab to allow usercopy

The handling of received data in the smbdirect client code involves using
copy_to_iter() to copy data from the smbd_reponse struct's packet trailer
to a folioq buffer provided by netfslib that encapsulates a chunk of
pagecache.

If, however, CONFIG_HARDENED_USERCOPY=y, this will result in the checks
then performed in copy_to_iter() oopsing with something like the following:

CIFS: Attempting to mount //172.31.9.1/test
CIFS: VFS: RDMA transport established
usercopy: Kernel memory exposure attempt detected from SLUB object 'smbd_response_0000000091e24ea1' (offset 81, size 63)!
------------[ cut here ]------------
kernel BUG at mm/usercopy.c:102!
...
RIP: 0010:usercopy_abort+0x6c/0x80
...
Call Trace:

__check_heap_object+0xe3/0x120
__check_object_size+0x4dc/0x6d0
smbd_recv+0x77f/0xfe0 [cifs]
cifs_readv_from_socket+0x276/0x8f0 [cifs]
cifs_read_from_socket+0xcd/0x120 [cifs]
cifs_demultiplex_thread+0x7e9/0x2d50 [cifs]
kthread+0x396/0x830
ret_from_fork+0x2b8/0x3b0
ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30

The problem is that the smbd_response slab's packet field isn't marked as
being permitted for usercopy.

Fix this by passing parameters to kmem_slab_create() to indicate that
copy_to_iter() is permitted from the packet region of the smbd_response
slab objects, less the header space.

References

Published by the National Vulnerability Database Aug 16, 2025
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Aug 16, 2025
Last updated Nov 19, 2025

Severity

Moderate

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS score

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

This score estimates the probability of this vulnerability being exploited within the next 30 days. Data provided by FIRST.
(1st percentile)

Weaknesses

Initialization of a Resource with an Insecure Default

The product initializes or sets a resource with a default that is intended to be changed by the administrator, but the default is not secure. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2025-38523

GHSA ID

GHSA-4x9v-h3r3-c3mf

Source code

No known source code

Dependabot alerts are not supported on this advisory because it does not have a package from a supported ecosystem with an affected and fixed version.

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