CVE-2025-38017: Linux kernel · fs/eventpoll: fix endless busy loop after timeout has expired
Source GCVE Database
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium.
Data as of 13 Nov 2026, 18:58 UTC
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 18 Jun 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by 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 13 Nov 2026.
What to do
AI-suggested
A fix for this vulnerability has been implemented in the Linux kernel. Users should update to the fixed kernel version once available. Since this is a kernel-level issue, applying the official kernel patch or upgrading to a patched kernel release is the recommended mitigation.
Description
CVE-2025-38017 is a vulnerability in the Linux kernel's eventpoll subsystem where an expired timeout can cause an endless busy loop. This occurs because the kernel fails to set a timeout flag when a very short timeout expires before entering the polling function, leading to a soft lockup and system deadlocks.