Vulnerabilities

Vulnerability · CVE-2025-40190

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: guard against EA inode refcount underflow in xattr update syzkaller found a path where ext4_xattr_inode_up

Published Nov 12, 2025 · catalog updated Aug 5, 2026 · Linux Linux

Open the advisory

Exploitation likelihood is not on this record for CVE-2025-40190. A missing EPSS score is not a low risk. Compare Linux Linux with the linked advisory before you change production.

Gaps on this record

  • No vendor fix or required action is stored. Compare the linked advisory before you change production.
  • EPSS is missing. A missing score is not a low risk.
Severity
High7.8
Known exploitation
Not in CISA/VulnCheck KEV
EPSS
Not in the current FIRST EPSS dataset
Remediation
Vendor / distro source
Affected products
vendor Linux Linux patch: 6.1.157

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: guard against EA inode refcount underflow in xattr update syzkaller found a path where ext4_xattr_inode_update_ref() reads an EA inode refcount that is already ref underflow: ref_count=-1 ref_change=-1 EXT4-fs warning: ea_inode dec ref err=-117 Make the invariant explicit: if the current refcount is non-positive, treat this as on-disk corruption, emit ext4_error_inode(), and fail the operation with -EFSCORRUPTED instead of updating the refcount. Delete the WARN_ONCE() as negative refcounts are now impossible; keep error

Are you affected?

Enter the version you run. The result uses only the ranges stored on this record.

The check returns affected, not affected, or incomplete. It does not guess a version that is missing from the record.

  • vendor Linux Linux patch: 6.1.157patch: 6.1.157

How to fix CVE-2025-40190

What to do

Three questions, each answered from this record only. Confirm the vendor advisory before you patch.

Should you patch?

Exploitation likelihood is not on this record for CVE-2025-40190. A missing EPSS score is not a low risk. Compare Linux Linux with the linked advisory before you change production.

Which versions are affected?

Compare what you have installed with Linux Linux patch: 6.1.157 patch: 6.1.157. Compare the installed version with the linked vendor advisory before you change production.

What should an analyst verify?

No weakness class is stored. EPSS is absent from the current FIRST dataset. There is no CISA KEV listing. No Exploit-DB or Metasploit reference is linked. Use the source links for the original advisory.

Code

The project this record applies to. Exploit listings stay in References.

Timeline

Detection, updates, and resolution for this record.

  1. Nov 12, 2025 · EUVD

    Detected

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: guard against EA inode refcount underflow in xattr update syzkaller found a path where ext4_xattr_inode_update_ref() reads an EA inode refcount that is already ref underflow: ref_count=-1 ref_change=-1 EXT4-fs warning: ea_inode dec ref err=-117 Make the invariant explicit: if the current refcount is non-positive, treat this

  2. Aug 5, 2026 · EUVD

    Updated

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: guard against EA inode refcount underflow in xattr update syzkaller found a path where ext4_xattr_inode_update_ref() reads an EA inode refcount that is already ref underflow: ref_count=-1 ref_change=-1 EXT4-fs warning: ea_inode dec ref err=-117 Make the invariant explicit: if the current refcount is non-positive, treat this

Sources

  • CVE.orgVulnerability recordCVE-2025-40190

    Official CVE identifier

    cve.org
  • EUVDVulnerability recordEUVD-2025-150384

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: guard against EA inode refcount underflow in xattr update syzkaller found a path where ext4_xattr_inode_update_ref() reads an EA inode refcount that is already ref underflow: ref_count=-1 ref_change=-1 EXT4

    euvd.enisa.europa.eu

References

Freshness

Last verified in this catalog Oct 23, 2026. Significant claims (KEV, EPSS, CVSS, affected ranges) come from the source rows above — open the original publisher for the authoritative advisory.