# CVE-2025-37876: netfs: Only create /proc/fs/netfs with CONFIG_PROC_FS

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel netfs module causes a system crash when CONFIG_PROC_FS is disabled.

- **Severity:** High 7.0 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 9 May 2025
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-37876, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-37876, GHSA-xp7w-6352-489g, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-37876, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-37876, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-37876, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-37876

## What is CVE-2025-37876?

CVE-2025-37876 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 9 May 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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

netfs: Only create /proc/fs/netfs with CONFIG_PROC_FS

When testing a special config:

CONFIG_NETFS_SUPPORTS=y
CONFIG_PROC_FS=n

The system crashes with something like:

[    3.766197] ------------[ cut here ]------------
[    3.766484] kernel BUG at mm/mempool.c:560!
[    3.766789] Oops: invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI
[    3.767123] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 1 Comm: swapper/0 Tainted: G        W
[    3.767777] Tainted: [W]=WARN
[    3.767968] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996),
[    3.768523] RIP: 0010:mempool_alloc_slab.cold+0x17/0x19
[    3.768847] Code: 50 fe ff 58 5b 5d 41 5c 41 5d 41 5e 41 5f e9 93 95 13 00
[    3.769977] RSP: 0018:ffffc90000013998 EFLAGS: 00010286
[    3.770315] RAX: 000000000000002f RBX: ffff888100ba8640 RCX: 0000000000000000
[    3.770749] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000003 RDI: 00000000ffffffff
[    3.771217] RBP: 0000000000092880 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: ffffc90000013828
[    3.771664] R10: 0000000000000001 R11: 00000000ffffffea R12: 0000000000092cc0
[    3.772117] R13: 0000000000000400 R14: ffff8881004b1620 R15: ffffea0004ef7e40
[    3.772554] FS:  0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8881b5f3c000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
[    3.773061] CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
[    3.773443] CR2: ffffffff830901b4 CR3: 0000000004296001 CR4: 0000000000770ef0
[    3.773884] PKRU: 55555554
[    3.774058] Call Trace:
[    3.774232]  <TASK>
[    3.774371]  mempool_alloc_noprof+0x6a/0x190
[    3.774649]  ? _printk+0x57/0x80
[    3.774862]  netfs_alloc_request+0x85/0x2ce
[    3.775147]  netfs_readahead+0x28/0x170
[    3.775395]  read_pages+0x6c/0x350
[    3.775623]  ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5
[    3.775928]  page_cache_ra_unbounded+0x1bd/0x2a0
[    3.776247]  filemap_get_pages+0x139/0x970
[    3.776510]  ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5
[    3.776820]  filemap_read+0xf9/0x580
[    3.777054]  ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5
[    3.777368]  ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5
[    3.777674]  ? find_held_lock+0x32/0x90
[    3.777929]  ? netfs_start_io_read+0x19/0x70
[    3.778221]  ? netfs_start_io_read+0x19/0x70
[    3.778489]  ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5
[    3.778800]  ? lock_acquired+0x1e6/0x450
[    3.779054]  ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5
[    3.779379]  netfs_buffered_read_iter+0x57/0x80
[    3.779670]  __kernel_read+0x158/0x2c0
[    3.779927]  bprm_execve+0x300/0x7a0
[    3.780185]  kernel_execve+0x10c/0x140
[    3.780423]  ? __pfx_kernel_init+0x10/0x10
[    3.780690]  kernel_init+0xd5/0x150
[    3.780910]  ret_from_fork+0x2d/0x50
[    3.781156]  ? __pfx_kernel_init+0x10/0x10
[    3.781414]  ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30
[    3.781677]  </TASK>
[    3.781823] Modules linked in:
[    3.782065] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---

This is caused by the following error path in netfs_init():

        if (!proc_mkdir("fs/netfs", NULL))
                goto error_proc;

Fix this by adding ifdef in netfs_main(), so that /proc/fs/netfs is only
created with CONFIG_PROC_FS.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-37876?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-37876?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-37876 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-37876 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-37876 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-37876 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 9 May 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-37876 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-37876/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-37876/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-37876
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-37876
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-37876

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-37876/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.