CVE-2025-21887: ovl: fix UAF in ovl_dentry_update_reval by moving dput() in ovl_link_up

Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2025-03-27 · updated 2026-10-15
Weakness: CWE-416

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ovl: fix UAF in ovl_dentry_update_reval by moving dput() in ovl_link_up The issue was caused by dput(upper) being called before ovl_dentry_update_reval(), while upper->d_flags was still accessed in ovl_dentry_remote(). Move dput(upper) after its last use to prevent use-after-free. BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in ovl_dentry_remote fs/overlayfs/util.c:162 [inline] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in ovl_dentry_update_reval+0xd2/0xf0 fs/overlayfs/util.c:167 Call Trace: <TASK> __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:88 [inline] dump_stack_lvl+0x116/0x1f0 lib/dump_stack.c:114 print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:377 [inline] print_report+0xc3/0x620 mm/kasan/report.c:488 kasan_report+0xd9/0x110 mm/kasan/report.c:601 ovl_dentry_remote fs/overlayfs/util.c:162 [inline] ovl_dentry_update_reval+0xd2/0xf0 fs/overlayfs/util.c:167 ovl_link_up fs/overlayfs/copy_up.c:610 [inline] ovl_copy_up_one+0x2105/0x3490 fs/overlayfs/copy_up.c:1170 ovl_copy_up_flags+0x18d/0x200 fs/overlayfs/copy_up.c:1223 ovl_rename+0x39e/0x18c0 fs/overlayfs/dir.c:1136 vfs_rename+0xf84/0x20a0 fs/namei.c:4893 ... </TASK>

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 5.10.188 before 5.11; from 5.15.121 before 5.15.179; from 6.1.39 before 6.1.130; from 6.3.13 before 6.4; from 6.4.4 before 6.6.81; from 6.7 before 6.12.18 — fixed in 5.11, 5.15.179, 6.1.130, 6.12.18, 6.13.6, 6.4

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 5.11, 5.15.179, 6.1.130, 6.12.18. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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