CVE-2025-39866 | fs: writeback: fix use-after-free in __mark_inode_dirty()

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs: writeback: fix use-after-free in __mark_inode_dirty() An use-after-free issue occurred when __mark_inode_dirty() get the bdi_writeback that was in the progress of switching. CPU: 1 PID: 562 Comm: systemd-random- Not tainted 6.6.56-gb4403bd46a8e #1 ...... pstate: 60400005 (nZCv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) pc : __mark_inode_dirty+0x124/0x418 lr : __mark_inode_dirty+0x118/0x418 sp : ffffffc08c9dbbc0 ........ Call trace: __mark_inode_dirty+0x124/0x418 generic_update_time+0x4c/0x60 file_modified+0xcc/0xd0 ext4_buffered_write_iter+0x58/0x124 ext4_file_write_iter+0x54/0x704 vfs_write+0x1c0/0x308 ksys_write+0x74/0x10c __arm64_sys_write+0x1c/0x28 invoke_syscall+0x48/0x114 el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0xc0/0xe0 do_el0_svc+0x1c/0x28 el0_svc+0x40/0xe4 el0t_64_sync_handler+0x120/0x12c el0t_64_sync+0x194/0x198 Root cause is: systemd-random-seed kworker ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ___mark_inode_dirty inode_switch_wbs_work_fn spin_lock(&inode->i_lock); inode_attach_wb locked_inode_to_wb_and_lock_list get inode->i_wb spin_unlock(&inode->i_lock); spin_lock(&wb->list_lock) spin_lock(&inode->i_lock) inode_io_list_move_locked spin_unlock(&wb->list_lock) spin_unlock(&inode->i_lock) spin_lock(&old_wb->list_lock) inode_do_switch_wbs spin_lock(&inode->i_lock) inode->i_wb = new_wb spin_unlock(&inode->i_lock) spin_unlock(&old_wb->list_lock) wb_put_many(old_wb, nr_switched) cgwb_release old wb released wb_wakeup_delayed() accesses wb, then trigger the use-after-free issue Fix this race condition by holding inode spinlock until wb_wakeup_delayed() finished.

Published: 2025-09-19 Last update: 2026-05-12 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-39866 is rated Low Risk (33.7/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.03%). Mandatory action: 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-2025-39866

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 2026-01-23 0.05% 0.03% -0.03%
2 2025-12-18 0.02% 0.05% +0.03%
3 2025-09-20 0.02%

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-39866

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-39866

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2025-39866

GHSA-65ww-5pr7-752v · Severity: high — In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs: writeback: fix use-after...

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-39866

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2025-39866 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-2025-39866
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-39866
suse medium CVE-2025-39866 severity moderate: SUSE including 482 source package names (13.2-6.19:libjitterentropy3-3.4.1-3.1, 13.2-6.19:libopenssl3-3.1.4-6.1, …), 999 product×package rows across 207 product lines (Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/baremetal-os-container, Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/base-os-container, … (207 product lines)): Fixed 747, Known Affected 231, First Fixed 21. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-39866/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-39866 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 149, needed 48, not-affected 16, needs-triage 2, pending 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-39866

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-39866

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 4.2, < 5.10.247 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.192 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.1.151 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.105 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.46 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.16.6 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.17 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.17 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-39866

cvelogic Threat Intelligence