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Unscored CVE-2025-38017 EUVD-2025-27869GHSA-hv9m-xg7c-9q4v

fs/eventpoll: fix endless busy loop after timeout has expired

Published Jun 18, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026 · Assigned by Linux

Vendor: Linux Product: Linux Package: linux-allwinner-5.19 Package: linux-aws-5.0 Package: linux-aws-5.11 Package: linux-aws-5.13 Package: linux-aws-5.19 Package: linux-aws-5.3 Package: linux-aws-5.8 Package: linux-aws-6.2 Package: linux-aws-6.5 Package: linux-azure Package: linux-azure-5.11 Package: linux-azure-5.13 Package: linux-azure-5.19 Package: linux-azure-5.3 Package: linux-azure-5.8 Package: linux-azure-6.2 Package: linux-azure-6.5 Package: linux-azure-edge Package: linux-azure-fde Package: linux-azure-fde-5.19 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.2 Package: linux-gcp Package: linux-gcp-5.11 Package: linux-gcp-5.13 Package: linux-gcp-5.19 Package: linux-gcp-5.3 Package: linux-gcp-5.8 Package: linux-gcp-6.14 Package: linux-gcp-6.2 Package: linux-gcp-6.5 Package: linux-gke Package: linux-gke-4.15 Package: linux-gke-5.15 Package: linux-gke-5.4 Package: linux-gkeop Package: linux-gkeop-5.15 Package: linux-gkeop-5.4 Package: linux-hwe Package: linux-hwe-5.11 Package: linux-hwe-5.13 Package: linux-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-hwe-5.8 Package: linux-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-hwe-edge Package: linux-intel-5.13 Package: linux-intel-iot-realtime Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-nvidia-6.2 Package: linux-nvidia-6.5 Package: linux-oem Package: linux-oem-5.10 Package: linux-oem-5.13 Package: linux-oem-5.14 Package: linux-oem-5.17 Package: linux-oem-5.6 Package: linux-oem-6.0 Package: linux-oem-6.1 Package: linux-oem-6.5 Package: linux-oracle-5.0 Package: linux-oracle-5.11 Package: linux-oracle-5.13 Package: linux-oracle-5.3 Package: linux-oracle-5.8 Package: linux-oracle-6.5 Package: linux-raspi-realtime Package: linux-raspi2 Package: linux-realtime Package: linux-realtime-6.14 Package: linux-riscv Package: linux-riscv-5.11 Package: linux-riscv-5.19 Package: linux-riscv-5.8 Package: linux-riscv-6.5 Package: linux-starfive-5.19 Package: linux-starfive-6.2 Package: linux-starfive-6.5 Platform: Linux Ecosystem: Ubuntu

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

fs/eventpoll: fix endless busy loop after timeout has expired

After commit 0a65bc27bd64 ("eventpoll: Set epoll timeout if it's in
the future"), the following program would immediately enter a busy
loop in the kernel:

```
int main() {
int e = epoll_create1(0);
struct epoll_event event = {.events = EPOLLIN};
epoll_ctl(e, EPOLL_CTL_ADD, 0, &event);
const struct timespec timeout = {.tv_nsec = 1};
epoll_pwait2(e, &event, 1, &timeout, 0);
}
```

This happens because the given (non-zero) timeout of 1 nanosecond
usually expires before ep_poll() is entered and then
ep_schedule_timeout() returns false, but `timed_out` is never set
because the code line that sets it is skipped. This quickly turns
into a soft lockup, RCU stalls and deadlocks, inflicting severe
headaches to the whole system.

When the timeout has expired, we don't need to schedule a hrtimer, but
we should set the `timed_out` variable. Therefore, I suggest moving
the ep_schedule_timeout() check into the `timed_out` expression
instead of skipping it.

brauner: Note that there was an earlier fix by Joe Damato in response to
my bug report in [1].

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Linux Linux 6.14.4 – < 6.14.8 6.14.8

Fixed in Linux distributions

Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gcp-6.14 6.14.0-1011.11~24.04.1 —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-riscv +2 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-riscv +32 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-gke +28 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-gcp +14 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS linux-hwe-edge No fix yet —
Show 1 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-realtime-6.14 6.14.0-1010.10~24.04.1 —

Advisories 1

References