CVE-2025-38701 | ext4: do not BUG when INLINE_DATA_FL lacks system.data xattr

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: do not BUG when INLINE_DATA_FL lacks system.data xattr A syzbot fuzzed image triggered a BUG_ON in ext4_update_inline_data() when an inode had the INLINE_DATA_FL flag set but was missing the system.data extended attribute. Since this can happen due to a maiciouly fuzzed file system, we shouldn't BUG, but rather, report it as a corrupted file system. Add similar replacements of BUG_ON with EXT4_ERROR_INODE() ii ext4_create_inline_data() and ext4_inline_data_truncate().

Published: 2025-09-04 Last update: 2026-05-12 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2025-38701 is rated Low Risk (23.7/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

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-2025-38701

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 2026-01-10 0.06% 0.02% -0.04%
2 2026-01-04 0.03% 0.06% +0.03%
3 2025-09-05 — 0.03% —

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-38701

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
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:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
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.
 1.8 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-38701

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2025-38701

GHSA-x687-v76r-f9gw · Severity: medium — In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: do not BUG when...

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-38701

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2025-38701 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 2 source packages (linux, linux-6.1), 6 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 6. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-38701
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38701
suse medium CVE-2025-38701 severity moderate: SUSE including 479 source package names (2.1.3-6.80:kernel-default-base-6.4.0-35.1.21.12, 2.1.3-7.57:kernel-default-6.4.0-35.1, …), 962 product×package rows across 198 product lines (Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/base-os-container, Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/kvm-os-container, … (198 product lines)): Fixed 704, Known Affected 231, First Fixed 21, Known Not Affected 6. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38701/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-38701 medium priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1414 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1017, ignored 180, released 150, needed 48, not-affected 16, needs-triage 2, pending 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-38701

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38701

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 3.8, < 5.4.297 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.5, < 5.10.241 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.190 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.1.149 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.103 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.43 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.15.11 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.16, < 6.16.2 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-38701

URL Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/099b847ccc6c1ad2f805d13cfbcc83f5b6d4bc42 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1199a6399895f4767f0b9a68a6ff47c3f799b7c7 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/279c87ef7b9da34f65c2e4db586e730b667a6fb9 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2817ac83cb4732597bf36853fe13ca616f4ee4e2 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7f322c12df7aeed1755acd3c6fab48c7807795fb Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8085a7324d8ec448c4a764af7853e19bbd64e17a Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/81e7e2e7ba07e7c8cdce43ccad2f91adbc5a919c Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8a6f89d42e61788605722dd9faf98797c958a7e5 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d960f4b793912f35e9d72bd9d1e90553063fcbf1 Patch
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00007.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-032379.html
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-082556.html
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