# CVE-2025-38615: fs/ntfs3: cancle set bad inode after removing name fails

> A race condition in the Linux kernel's ntfs3 filesystem allows marking a live inode as bad, potentially causing system instability or denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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:** 19 Aug 2025
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-38615, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38615, GHSA-8f4g-p77g-3pf2, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-38615, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-38615, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-38615, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-38615, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38615

## What is CVE-2025-38615?

CVE-2025-38615 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 Aug 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:

fs/ntfs3: cancle set bad inode after removing name fails

The reproducer uses a file0 on a ntfs3 file system with a corrupted i_link.
When renaming, the file0's inode is marked as a bad inode because the file
name cannot be deleted.

The underlying bug is that make_bad_inode() is called on a live inode.
In some cases it's "icache lookup finds a normal inode, d_splice_alias()
is called to attach it to dentry, while another thread decides to call
make_bad_inode() on it - that would evict it from icache, but we'd already
found it there earlier".
In some it's outright "we have an inode attached to dentry - that's how we
got it in the first place; let's call make_bad_inode() on it just for shits
and giggles".

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38615?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-38615?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-38615 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38615 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-2025-38615 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-38615 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 Aug 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-2025-38615 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-2025-38615/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38615/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-38615
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38615
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-38615

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38615/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.