CVE-2025-37785

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

ext4: fix OOB read when checking dotdot dir

Mounting a corrupted filesystem with directory which contains . dir entry with rec_len == block size results in out-of-bounds read (later on, when the corrupted directory is removed).

ext4_empty_dir() assumes every ext4 directory contains at least . and .. as directory entries in the first data block. It first loads the . dir entry, performs sanity checks by calling ext4_check_dir_entry() and then uses its rec_len member to compute the location of .. dir entry (in ext4_next_entry). It assumes the .. dir entry fits into the same data block.

If the rec_len of . is precisely one block (4KB), it slips through the sanity checks (it is considered the last directory entry in the data block) and leaves struct ext4_dir_entry_2 *de point exactly past the memory slot allocated to the data block. The following call to ext4_check_dir_entry() on new value of de then dereferences this pointer which results in out-of-bounds mem access.

Fix this by extending __ext4_check_dir_entry() to check for . dir entries that reach the end of data block. Make sure to ignore the phony dir entries for checksum (by checking name_len for non-zero).

Note: This is reported by KASAN as use-after-free in case another structure was recently freed from the slot past the bound, but it is really an OOB read.

This issue was found by syzkaller tool.

Call Trace: [ 38.594108] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in __ext4_check_dir_entry+0x67e/0x710 [ 38.594649] Read of size 2 at addr ffff88802b41a004 by task syz-executor/5375 [ 38.595158] [ 38.595288] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 5375 Comm: syz-executor Not tainted 6.14.0-rc7 #1 [ 38.595298] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.16.3-0-ga6ed6b701f0a-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 [ 38.595304] Call Trace: [ 38.595308] [ 38.595311] dump_stack_lvl+0xa7/0xd0 [ 38.595325] print_address_description.constprop.0+0x2c/0x3f0 [ 38.595339] ? __ext4_check_dir_entry+0x67e/0x710 [ 38.595349] print_report+0xaa/0x250 [ 38.595359] ? __ext4_check_dir_entry+0x67e/0x710 [ 38.595368] ? kasan_addr_to_slab+0x9/0x90 [ 38.595378] kasan_report+0xab/0xe0 [ 38.595389] ? __ext4_check_dir_entry+0x67e/0x710 [ 38.595400] __ext4_check_dir_entry+0x67e/0x710 [ 38.595410] ext4_empty_dir+0x465/0x990 [ 38.595421] ? __pfx_ext4_empty_dir+0x10/0x10 [ 38.595432] ext4_rmdir.part.0+0x29a/0xd10 [ 38.595441] ? __dquot_initialize+0x2a7/0xbf0 [ 38.595455] ? __pfx_ext4_rmdir.part.0+0x10/0x10 [ 38.595464] ? __pfx___dquot_initialize+0x10/0x10 [ 38.595478] ? down_write+0xdb/0x140 [ 38.595487] ? __pfx_down_write+0x10/0x10 [ 38.595497] ext4_rmdir+0xee/0x140 [ 38.595506] vfs_rmdir+0x209/0x670 [ 38.595517] ? lookup_one_qstr_excl+0x3b/0x190 [ 38.595529] do_rmdir+0x363/0x3c0 [ 38.595537] ? __pfx_do_rmdir+0x10/0x10 [ 38.595544] ? strncpy_from_user+0x1ff/0x2e0 [ 38.595561] __x64_sys_unlinkat+0xf0/0x130 [ 38.595570] do_syscall_64+0x5b/0x180 [ 38.595583] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e

Weakness

The product reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.

Affected Software

Potential Mitigations

• Assume all input is malicious. Use an “accept known good” input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does.
• When performing input validation, consider all potentially relevant properties, including length, type of input, the full range of acceptable values, missing or extra inputs, syntax, consistency across related fields, and conformance to business rules. As an example of business rule logic, “boat” may be syntactically valid because it only contains alphanumeric characters, but it is not valid if the input is only expected to contain colors such as “red” or “blue.”
• Do not rely exclusively on looking for malicious or malformed inputs. This is likely to miss at least one undesirable input, especially if the code’s environment changes. This can give attackers enough room to bypass the intended validation. However, denylists can be useful for detecting potential attacks or determining which inputs are so malformed that they should be rejected outright.
• To reduce the likelihood of introducing an out-of-bounds read, ensure that you validate and ensure correct calculations for any length argument, buffer size calculation, or offset. Be especially careful of relying on a sentinel (i.e. special character such as NUL) in untrusted inputs.

Related Attack Patterns

• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/540.html

References

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/14da7dbecb430e35b5889da8dae7bef33173b351
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/52a5509ab19a5d3afe301165d9b5787bba34d842
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/53bc45da8d8da92ec07877f5922b130562eb4b00
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/89503e5eae64637d0fa2218912b54660effe7d93
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ac28c5684c1cdab650a7e5065b19e91577d37a4b
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b47584c556444cf7acb66b26a62cbc348eb92b78
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b7531a4f99c3887439d778afaf418d1a01a5f01b
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d5e206778e96e8667d3bde695ad372c296dc9353
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e47f472a664d70a3d104a6c2a035cdff55a719b4
• https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/05/msg00030.html
• https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/05/msg00045.html