CVE-20XX-?
agent?

CVE-2025-40190

7.8 HIGH 0.2% exploit odds No fix listed Other OS & kernel

What it is

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 <= 0 and then applies ref_change (often -1). That lets the refcount underflow and we proceed with a bogus value, triggering errors like: EXT4-fs error: EA inode <n> 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 reporting in ext4_error_inode(). This prevents the underflow and the follow-on orphan/cleanup churn.

At a glance

Exploitability
Can be exploited locally on the machine without logging in, but needs a user to act. High risk of data exposure, data tampering, service disruption.
Exploit odds
0.2% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).
Fix
No patch or advisory is linked yet. Look at mitigations or restrict exposure.

Timeline

  1. ReservedThe CVE id was reserved by its CNA
  2. PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
  3. Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Why it ranks here

Details

Published
Last modified
Exploit probability
0.2% · EPSS, next 30 days
Record status
Deferred

Attack profile CVSS 3.1 · 7.8

Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges needed
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Raw vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Is it in your code?

Hand this to your coding agent. It searches your project for the affected products and checks versions. Nothing leaves your machine.

Read https://cve-list.com/agent/cve/CVE-2025-40190.md and follow it. Check whether this project is affected by CVE-2025-40190. Read only. Don't change anything and don't upload my code. Tell me yes, no or not sure, with the file as proof.

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References

NVD record · CVE.org record