CVE-2025-38614

Siemens ProductCERT Advisory SSA-019113

Description

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

eventpoll: Fix semi-unbounded recursion

Ensure that epoll instances can never form a graph deeper than EP_MAX_NESTS+1 links.

Currently, ep_loop_check_proc() ensures that the graph is loop-free and does some recursion depth checks, but those recursion depth checks don't limit the depth of the resulting tree for two reasons:

  • They don't look upwards in the tree.
  • If there are multiple downwards paths of different lengths, only one of the paths is actually considered for the depth check since commit 28d82dc1c4ed ("epoll: limit paths").

Essentially, the current recursion depth check in ep_loop_check_proc() just serves to prevent it from recursing too deeply while checking for loops.

A more thorough check is done in reverse_path_check() after the new graph edge has already been created; this checks, among other things, that no paths going upwards from any non-epoll file with a length of more than 5 edges exist. However, this check does not apply to non-epoll files.

As a result, it is possible to recurse to a depth of at least roughly 500, tested on v6.15. (I am unsure if deeper recursion is possible; and this may have changed with commit 8c44dac8add7 ("eventpoll: Fix priority inversion problem").)

To fix it:

  1. In ep_loop_check_proc(), note the subtree depth of each visited node, and use subtree depths for the total depth calculation even when a subtree has already been visited.
  2. Add ep_get_upwards_depth_proc() for similarly determining the maximum depth of an upwards walk.
  3. In ep_loop_check(), use these values to limit the total path length between epoll nodes to EP_MAX_NESTS edges.

Metrics

Severity
high
no public PoC known
7.8
Source: nvd-v3
7.4 %
Low — this CVE sits in the lower 10% of all CVEs scored today.
0.2 %
Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
Published
2021-09-26 00:00 UTC

Reanalysis & status changes

Chronological NVD audit events for this CVE — reanalyses, CVSS updates, CPE diffs.

  1. CVE Modified2026-07-30 06:23 UTC· 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
    • CVSS V3.1: AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected operating systems

  • linux

    amazon / amazon_linux

  • linux

    ubuntu / awsbionic

  • linux

    ubuntu / awsjammy

  • linux

    ubuntu / awsnoble

  • linux

    ubuntu / awsresolute

  • linux

    ubuntu / awsxenial

  • linux

    ubuntu / aws-6.8jammy

  • linux

    ubuntu / aws-hwexenial

  • linux

    ubuntu / azurejammy

  • linux

    ubuntu / azurenoble

  • linux

    ubuntu / azureresolute

  • linux

    ubuntu / azurexenial

  • linux

    ubuntu / azure-4.15bionic

  • linux

    suse / basesystem_module15

  • linux

    debian / debian_linux11.0

  • linux

    debian / debian_linux12.0

  • linux

    debian / debian_linux13.0

  • linux

    suse / development_tools_module15

  • linux

    redhat / enterprise_linux10.0

  • linux

    redhat / enterprise_linux7.0

  • linux

    redhat / enterprise_linux8.0

  • linux

    redhat / enterprise_linux9.0

  • linux

    redhat / enterprise_linux_aus8.4

  • linux

    redhat / enterprise_linux_aus8.6

Affected products

Products and version ranges extracted from the vendor/CERT advisory. A range like „<4.14.6“ implies the update recommendation „upgrade to 4.14.6 or later“.

  • arista

    cloudvision_agni2024.4.0 – 2025.2.2

  • arista

    cloudvision_portal2024.2.0 – 2026.1.0

  • arista

    velocloud_edge4.5.0 – 6.4.1

  • arista

    velocloud_gateway

  • arista

    velocloud_orchestrator

  • canonical

    ubuntu_linux

  • Citrix Systems

    Hypervisor8.2 CU1 LTSR

  • Citrix Systems

    XenServer8.4

  • Dell

    ECS3.8.1.0-3.8.1.7

  • Dell

    NetWorkerVirtual Edition

  • Dell

    NetWorkervProxy 19.13.0.3

  • Dell

    NetWorkervProxy 19.14

  • Dell

    PowerScale OneFS13.2.3

  • Dell

    PowerScale OneFSOneFS

  • Dell

    Secure Connect GatewayAppliance 5.32.00.18

  • gnupg

    libgcrypt1.11.0 – 1.11.3

  • gnupg

    libgcrypt1.12.0 – 1.12.2

  • gnupg

    libgcrypt1.8.8 – 1.10.4

  • Intel

    ProzessorCore Ultra 5

  • Intel

    ProzessorCore Ultra 7

  • Intel

    ProzessorCore Ultra 9

  • julia

    openssh_jll

  • netapp

    active_iq_unified_manager

  • netapp

    clustered_data_ontap

References & sources

Linked CVEs

Show 406 more CVEs
IDCVE-2025-38614
Siemens ProductCERT Advisory SSA-019113 — CVE-2025-38614 | NEOSEC Intel