# CVE-2025-71295: fs/buffer: add alert in try_to_free_buffers() for folios without buffers

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel's buffer management can cause a system crash when specific filesystem flags are set without a release operation.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:** 6 May 2026
- **Updated:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-71295, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-71295, GHSA-hv9q-ch73-572p, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-71295, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-71295, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-71295, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-71295

## What is CVE-2025-71295?

CVE-2025-71295 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 6 May 2026. 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/buffer: add alert in try_to_free_buffers() for folios without buffers

try_to_free_buffers() can be called on folios with no buffers attached
when filemap_release_folio() is invoked on a folio belonging to a mapping
with AS_RELEASE_ALWAYS set but no release_folio operation defined.

In such cases, folio_needs_release() returns true because of the
AS_RELEASE_ALWAYS flag, but the folio has no private buffer data. This
causes try_to_free_buffers() to call drop_buffers() on a folio with no
buffers, leading to a null pointer dereference.

Adding a check in try_to_free_buffers() to return early if the folio has no
buffers attached, with WARN_ON_ONCE() to alert about the misconfiguration.
This provides defensive hardening.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-71295?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-71295?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-71295 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-71295 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-2025-71295 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-71295 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 6 May 2026. 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-2025-71295 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-2025-71295/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-71295/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-71295
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-71295
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-71295

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-71295/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.