CVE-2019-15538

An issue was discovered in xfs_setattr_nonsize in fs/xfs/xfs_iops.c in the Linux kernel through 5.2.9. XFS partially wedges when a chgrp fails on account of being out of disk quota. xfs_setattr_nonsize is failing to unlock the ILOCK after the xfs_qm_vop_chown_reserve call fails. This is primarily a local DoS attack vector, but it might result as well in remote DoS if the XFS filesystem is exported for instance via NFS.

Published: 2019-08-25 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2019-15538 is rated Moderate Risk (56.1/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 3.92%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2019-15538

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 16.18% 3.92% -12.26%
2 2026-06-10 16.43% 16.18% -0.25%
3 2025-12-28 — 16.43% —

Full EPSS history (26 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2019-15538

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 3.6 [email protected]
7.8 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 10.0 6.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2019-15538

OS Trackers for CVE-2019-15538

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2019-15538 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2019-15538
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2019-15538
suse medium CVE-2019-15538 severity moderate: SUSE including 197 source package names (cluster-md-kmp-default-4.12.14-120.1, cluster-md-kmp-default-4.12.14-150.35.1, …), 395 product×package rows across 49 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP4, SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 12 SP4, … (49 product lines)): Fixed 339, Known Not Affected 56. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2019-15538/
ubuntu low CVE-2019-15538 low priority: Ubuntu including 111 source packages (linux, linux-aws, …), 1148 status rows across 13 suites (bionic, disco, eoan, focal, groovy, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 809, not-affected 184, released 146, ignored 9. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2019-15538

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2019-15538

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 4.7, < 4.9.191 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.14, < 4.14.141 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.19, < 4.19.69 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.2, < 5.2.11 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 5.3 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.3:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 5.3 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.3:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 5.3 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.3:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 5.3 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.3:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 5.3 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.3:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 5.3 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.3:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 5.3 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.3:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 16.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:esm:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 18.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 19.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:19.04:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp data_availability_services — cpe:2.3:a:netapp:data_availability_services:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp hci_management_node — cpe:2.3:a:netapp:hci_management_node:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp solidfire — cpe:2.3:a:netapp:solidfire:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp aff_a700s_firmware — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:aff_a700s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h300s_firmware — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h300s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h500s_firmware — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h500s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h700s_firmware — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h700s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h300e_firmware — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h300e_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h500e_firmware — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h500e_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h700e_firmware — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h700e_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h410s_firmware — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h410s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h410c_firmware — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h410c_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h610s_firmware — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h610s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensuse leap 15.0 cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap:15.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensuse leap 15.1 cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap:15.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 29 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:29:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 30 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:30:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2019-15538

URL Tags
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-09/msg00064.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-09/msg00066.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=1fb254aa983bf190cfd685d40c64a480a9bafaee Mailing List Patch Vendor Advisory
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/1fb254aa983bf190cfd685d40c64a480a9bafaee Patch Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/09/msg00014.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/09/msg00015.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/O3RUDQJXRJQVGHCGR4YZWTQ3ECBI7TXH/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/T4JZ6AEUKFWBHQAROGMQARJ274PQP2QP/
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-xfs/20190823035528.GH1037422%40magnolia/
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-xfs/20190823192433.GA8736%40eldamar.local
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20191004-0001/ Third Party Advisory
https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K32592426?utm_source=f5support&amp%3Butm_medium=RSS
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4144-1/ Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4147-1/ Third Party Advisory
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