Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ovl: support encoding fid...
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ovl: support encoding fid from inode with no alias
Dmitry Safonov reported that a WARN_ON() assertion can be trigered by
userspace when calling inotify_show_fdinfo() for an overlayfs watched
inode, whose dentry aliases were discarded with drop_caches.
The WARN_ON() assertion in inotify_show_fdinfo() was removed, because
it is possible for encoding file handle to fail for other reason, but
the impact of failing to encode an overlayfs file handle goes beyond
this assertion.
As shown in the LTP test case mentioned in the link below, failure to
encode an overlayfs file handle from a non-aliased inode also leads to
failure to report an fid with FAN_DELETE_SELF fanotify events.
As Dmitry notes in his analyzis of the problem, ovl_encode_fh() fails
if it cannot find an alias for the inode, but this failure can be fixed.
ovl_encode_fh() seldom uses the alias and in the case of non-decodable
file handles, as is often the case with fanotify fid info,
ovl_encode_fh() never needs to use the alias to encode a file handle.
Defer finding an alias until it is actually needed so ovl_encode_fh()
will not fail in the common case of FAN_DELETE_SELF fanotify events.
Impact
CVE-2025-21654 has a CVSS score of 5.5 (Medium). The vector is requires local access, low privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. No fixed version is listed yet, so configuration controls and monitoring matter more in the interim.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2025-21654? CVE-2025-21654 is a medium-severity security vulnerability. No fixed version is listed yet.
- How severe is CVE-2025-21654? CVE-2025-21654 has a CVSS score of 5.5 (Medium). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2025-21654? No fixed version is listed for CVE-2025-21654 yet. Monitor the advisory for updates and apply mitigations in the interim.
- Is CVE-2025-21654 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2025-21654 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2025-21654 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.