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

fanotify: Validate the return value of mnt_ns_from_dentry() before dereferencing

The function do_fanotify_mark() does not validate if
mnt_ns_from_dentry() returns NULL before dereferencing mntns->user_ns.
This causes a NULL pointer dereference in do_fanotify_mark() if the
path is not a mount namespace object.

Fix this by checking mnt_ns_from_dentry()'s return value before
dereferencing it.

Before the patch

$ gcc fanotify_nullptr.c -o fanotify_nullptr
$ mkdir A
$ ./fanotify_nullptr
Fanotify fd: 3
fanotify_mark: Operation not permitted
$ unshare -Urm
Fanotify fd: 3
Killed

int main(void){
int ffd;
ffd = fanotify_init(FAN_CLASS_NOTIF | FAN_REPORT_MNT, 0);
if(ffd < 0){
perror("fanotify_init");
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}

printf("Fanotify fd: %d\n",ffd);

if(fanotify_mark(ffd, FAN_MARK_ADD | FAN_MARK_MNTNS,
FAN_MNT_ATTACH, AT_FDCWD, "A") < 0){
perror("fanotify_mark");
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}

return 0;
}

After the patch

$ gcc fanotify_nullptr.c -o fanotify_nullptr
$ mkdir A
$ ./fanotify_nullptr
Fanotify fd: 3
fanotify_mark: Operation not permitted
$ unshare -Urm
Fanotify fd: 3
fanotify_mark: Invalid argument

[ 25.694973] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000038
[ 25.695006] #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode
[ 25.695012] #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page
[ 25.695017] PGD 109a30067 P4D 109a30067 PUD 142b46067 PMD 0
[ 25.695025] Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI
[ 25.695032] CPU: 4 UID: 1000 PID: 1478 Comm: fanotify_nullpt Not
tainted 6.17.0-rc4 #1 PREEMPT(lazy)
[ 25.695040] Hardware name: VMware, Inc. VMware Virtual
Platform/440BX Desktop Reference Platform, BIOS 6.00 11/12/2020
[ 25.695049] RIP: 0010:do_fanotify_mark+0x817/0x950
[ 25.695066] Code: 04 00 00 e9 45 fd ff ff 48 8b 7c 24 48 4c 89 54
24 18 4c 89 5c 24 10 4c 89 0c 24 e8 b3 11 fc ff 4c 8b 54 24 18 4c 8b
5c 24 10 <48> 8b 78 38 4c 8b 0c 24 49 89 c4 e9 13 fd ff ff 8b 4c 24 28
85 c9
[ 25.695081] RSP: 0018:ffffd31c469e3c08 EFLAGS: 00010203
[ 25.695104] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000001000000 RCX: ffff8eb48aebd220
[ 25.695110] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: ffff8eb4835e8180
[ 25.695115] RBP: 0000000000000111 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000
[ 25.695142] R10: ffff8eb48a7d56c0 R11: ffff8eb482bede00 R12: 00000000004012a7
[ 25.695148] R13: 0000000000000110 R14: 0000000000000001 R15: ffff8eb48a7d56c0
[ 25.695154] FS: 00007f8733bda740(0000) GS:ffff8eb61ce5f000(0000)
knlGS:0000000000000000
[ 25.695162] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
[ 25.695170] CR2: 0000000000000038 CR3: 0000000136994006 CR4: 00000000003706f0
[ 25.695201] Call Trace:
[ 25.695209] <TASK>
[ 25.695215] __x64_sys_fanotify_mark+0x1f/0x30
[ 25.695222] do_syscall_64+0x82/0x2c0
...

Metrics

No CVSS v4.0

No CVSS v3.1

No CVSS v3.0

No CVSS v2

This CVE is not in the KEV list.

The EPSS score is 0.00018.

Key SSVC decision points have not yet been added.

Affected Vendors & Products

No data.

No data.

No data.

No data.

Advisories

No advisories yet.

Fixes

Solution

No solution given by the vendor.

Workaround

No workaround given by the vendor.

References
Link Providers
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/62e59ffe8787b5550ccff70c30b6f6be6a3ac3dd cve-icon cve-icon
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/73ce2a774ad6497cbd48dc4f8a5d699bc417f3fa cve-icon cve-icon
History

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fanotify: Validate the return value of mnt_ns_from_dentry() before dereferencing The function do_fanotify_mark() does not validate if mnt_ns_from_dentry() returns NULL before dereferencing mntns->user_ns. This causes a NULL pointer dereference in do_fanotify_mark() if the path is not a mount namespace object. Fix this by checking mnt_ns_from_dentry()'s return value before dereferencing it. Before the patch $ gcc fanotify_nullptr.c -o fanotify_nullptr $ mkdir A $ ./fanotify_nullptr Fanotify fd: 3 fanotify_mark: Operation not permitted $ unshare -Urm Fanotify fd: 3 Killed int main(void){ int ffd; ffd = fanotify_init(FAN_CLASS_NOTIF | FAN_REPORT_MNT, 0); if(ffd < 0){ perror("fanotify_init"); exit(EXIT_FAILURE); } printf("Fanotify fd: %d\n",ffd); if(fanotify_mark(ffd, FAN_MARK_ADD | FAN_MARK_MNTNS, FAN_MNT_ATTACH, AT_FDCWD, "A") < 0){ perror("fanotify_mark"); exit(EXIT_FAILURE); } return 0; } After the patch $ gcc fanotify_nullptr.c -o fanotify_nullptr $ mkdir A $ ./fanotify_nullptr Fanotify fd: 3 fanotify_mark: Operation not permitted $ unshare -Urm Fanotify fd: 3 fanotify_mark: Invalid argument [ 25.694973] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000038 [ 25.695006] #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode [ 25.695012] #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page [ 25.695017] PGD 109a30067 P4D 109a30067 PUD 142b46067 PMD 0 [ 25.695025] Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI [ 25.695032] CPU: 4 UID: 1000 PID: 1478 Comm: fanotify_nullpt Not tainted 6.17.0-rc4 #1 PREEMPT(lazy) [ 25.695040] Hardware name: VMware, Inc. VMware Virtual Platform/440BX Desktop Reference Platform, BIOS 6.00 11/12/2020 [ 25.695049] RIP: 0010:do_fanotify_mark+0x817/0x950 [ 25.695066] Code: 04 00 00 e9 45 fd ff ff 48 8b 7c 24 48 4c 89 54 24 18 4c 89 5c 24 10 4c 89 0c 24 e8 b3 11 fc ff 4c 8b 54 24 18 4c 8b 5c 24 10 <48> 8b 78 38 4c 8b 0c 24 49 89 c4 e9 13 fd ff ff 8b 4c 24 28 85 c9 [ 25.695081] RSP: 0018:ffffd31c469e3c08 EFLAGS: 00010203 [ 25.695104] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000001000000 RCX: ffff8eb48aebd220 [ 25.695110] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: ffff8eb4835e8180 [ 25.695115] RBP: 0000000000000111 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 [ 25.695142] R10: ffff8eb48a7d56c0 R11: ffff8eb482bede00 R12: 00000000004012a7 [ 25.695148] R13: 0000000000000110 R14: 0000000000000001 R15: ffff8eb48a7d56c0 [ 25.695154] FS: 00007f8733bda740(0000) GS:ffff8eb61ce5f000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 25.695162] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 25.695170] CR2: 0000000000000038 CR3: 0000000136994006 CR4: 00000000003706f0 [ 25.695201] Call Trace: [ 25.695209] <TASK> [ 25.695215] __x64_sys_fanotify_mark+0x1f/0x30 [ 25.695222] do_syscall_64+0x82/0x2c0 ...
Title fanotify: Validate the return value of mnt_ns_from_dentry() before dereferencing
References
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2025-10-28T11:48:39.999Z

Reserved: 2025-04-16T07:20:57.160Z

Link: CVE-2025-40072

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2025-10-28T12:15:41.723

Modified: 2025-10-28T12:15:41.723

Link: CVE-2025-40072

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.