# CVE-2025-38659: gfs2: No more self recovery

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel GFS2 filesystem can cause a denial of service when a node withdraws while being the only mounted node.

- **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:** 22 Aug 2025
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-66578, BELL-CVE-2025-38659, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38659, GHSA-hx42-fcj6-qc8x, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-38659, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-38659, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-38659, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-38659, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-38659, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38659

## What is CVE-2025-38659?

CVE-2025-38659 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 22 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:

gfs2: No more self recovery

When a node withdraws and it turns out that it is the only node that has
the filesystem mounted, gfs2 currently tries to replay the local journal
to bring the filesystem back into a consistent state.  Not only is that
a very bad idea, it has also never worked because gfs2_recover_func()
will refuse to do anything during a withdraw.

However, before even getting to this point, gfs2_recover_func()
dereferences sdp->sd_jdesc->jd_inode.  This was a use-after-free before
commit 04133b607a78 ("gfs2: Prevent double iput for journal on error")
and is a NULL pointer dereference since then.

Simply get rid of self recovery to fix that.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38659?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-38659?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-38659 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38659 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-2025-38659 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-38659 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 22 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-2025-38659 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-2025-38659/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38659/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-38659
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38659
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-38659

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38659/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.