Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: orangefs: fix xattr related...
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
orangefs: fix xattr related buffer overflow...
Willy Tarreau [email protected] forwarded me a message from
Disclosure [email protected] 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.
Impact
CVE-2025-40306 has a CVSS score of 7.8 (High). 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-2025-40306? CVE-2025-40306 is a high-severity security vulnerability. No fixed version is listed yet.
- How severe is CVE-2025-40306? CVE-2025-40306 has a CVSS score of 7.8 (High). 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-2025-40306? No fixed version is listed for CVE-2025-40306 yet. Monitor the advisory for updates and apply mitigations in the interim.
- Is CVE-2025-40306 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2025-40306 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-2025-40306 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.