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VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2025-37738: Linux kernel · ext4: ignore xattrs past end

Source GCVE Database

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.8 High.

Data as of 4 Nov 2026, 17:23 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 May 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 4 Nov 2026.

What to do

AI-suggested

A fix for this vulnerability has been implemented in the Linux kernel. Users and administrators should apply the official kernel updates that include the patch for CVE-2025-37738 to remediate the issue. Since this is a kernel-level vulnerability, updating to a fixed kernel version is the recommended mitigation. No alternative workarounds or temporary mitigations are indicated.

Description

CVE-2025-37738 is a use-after-free vulnerability in the ext4 filesystem implementation of the Linux kernel. The flaw occurs in the function ext4_xattr_inode_dec_ref_all, where extended attribute (xattr) entries past the designated end are not properly ignored, leading to a slab-use-after-free error. This issue was detected by Kernel Address Sanitizer (KASAN) and could result in memory corruption. The vulnerability affects Linux kernel versions prior to the fix and has a high severity rating with a CVSS score of 7.8.

References

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