Impact
The vulnerability arises because the btrfs zlib compression path for S390 hardware acceleration fails to release a folio that the kernel temporarily holds. The missing folio_put call creates a memory leak that can grow over time, potentially exhausting memory resources and harming system stability.
Affected Systems
Linux vendors running the Linux kernel are affected. The issue applies to kernel versions that have not yet incorporated the fix located in commit aa60fe12b4f4. This includes Linux kernel 6.19 release candidates from rc1 through rc7 and any earlier kernels that remain patched only by this commit’s resolution.
Risk and Exploitability
The CVSS score of 5.5 indicates moderate severity, and the EPSS score of less than 1% suggests a low probability of exploitation. The vulnerability is not currently listed in KEV, implying no known active exploits. An attacker with local system or elevated privileges could trigger repeated btrfs compression on S390 hardware, leading to a gradual increase in memory usage. The attack vector is inferred to be local, as it requires interaction with the kernel’s compression subsystem.
OpenCVE Enrichment