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VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2025-21896: Linux kernel · fuse: revert back to __readahead_folio() for readahead

Source GCVE Database

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.8 High.

Data as of 29 Oct 2026, 23:33 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
7.8High
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 1 Apr 2025

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponized: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq Mirage: no evidence on record.

    No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 29 Oct 2026.

What to do

AI-suggested

The vulnerability has been fixed by reverting the readahead implementation to __readahead_folio(), which properly manages folio references and prevents the use-after-free bug. Users should apply the official Linux kernel updates that include this fix. Since no explicit patch links or vendor advisory are provided, check the Linux kernel mailing lists or official kernel repositories for the fixed commits and update accordingly.

Description

CVE-2025-21896 is a use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's FUSE filesystem readahead implementation. A recent change to use folio-based readahead dropped a necessary reference on folios prematurely, causing a reference to be missing during splice pipe responses. The issue was fixed by reverting to the previous readahead method that maintains the folio reference for the duration of the readpages call, preventing the use-after-free condition.

References

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