Critical severity · published Nov 24, 2025
CVE-2025-40212
nfsd: fix refcount leak in nfsd_set_fh_dentry()
9.8
CVSS
0.4%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
nfsd: fix refcount leak in nfsd_set_fh_dentry()
nfsd exports a "pseudo root filesystem" which is used by NFSv4 to find
the various exported filesystems using LOOKUP requests from a known root
filehandle. NFSv3 uses the MOUNT protocol to find those exported
filesystems and so is not given access to the pseudo root filesystem.
If a v3 (or v2) client uses a filehandle from that filesystem,
nfsd_set_fh_dentry() will report an error, but still stores the export
in "struct svc_fh" even though it also drops the reference (exp_put()).
This means that when fh_put() is called an extra reference will be dropped
which can lead to use-after-free and possible denial of service.
Normal NFS usage will not provide a pseudo-root filehandle to a v3
client. This bug can only be triggered by the client synthesising an
incorrect filehandle.
To fix this we move the assignments to the svc_fh later, after all
possible error cases have been detected.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.4% · higher than 37% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
LI
Linux · Linux
ef7f6c4904d03ccd7478e1ac20ed75f79c4ac444 before b6bc86ce3944b10b9fc181fc00c1a520a20ed965; ef7f6c4904d03ccd7478e1ac20ed75f79c4ac444 before c83d7365cec5eb5ebeeee2a72e29b4ca58a7e4c2; ef7f6c4904d03ccd7478e1ac20ed75f79c4ac444 before 8a7348a9ed70bda1c1f51d3f1815bcbdf9f3b38c; 6.12 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-40212
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-40212
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8a7348a9ed70bda1c1f51d3f1815bcbdf9f3b38c
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b6bc86ce3944b10b9fc181fc00c1a520a20ed965
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c83d7365cec5eb5ebeeee2a72e29b4ca58a7e4c2
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