CVE-2025-40244
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
hfsplus: fix KMSAN uninit-value issue in __hfsplus_ext_cache_extent()
The syzbot reported issue in __hfsplus_ext_cache_extent():
[ 70.194323][ T9350] BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in __hfsplus_ext_cache_extent+0x7d0/0x990 [ 70.195022][ T9350] __hfsplus_ext_cache_extent+0x7d0/0x990 [ 70.195530][ T9350] hfsplus_file_extend+0x74f/0x1cf0 [ 70.195998][ T9350] hfsplus_get_block+0xe16/0x17b0 [ 70.196458][ T9350] __block_write_begin_int+0x962/0x2ce0 [ 70.196959][ T9350] cont_write_begin+0x1000/0x1950 [ 70.197416][ T9350] hfsplus_write_begin+0x85/0x130 [ 70.197873][ T9350] generic_perform_write+0x3e8/0x1060 [ 70.198374][ T9350] __generic_file_write_iter+0x215/0x460 [ 70.198892][ T9350] generic_file_write_iter+0x109/0x5e0 [ 70.199393][ T9350] vfs_write+0xb0f/0x14e0 [ 70.199771][ T9350] ksys_write+0x23e/0x490 [ 70.200149][ T9350] __x64_sys_write+0x97/0xf0 [ 70.200570][ T9350] x64_sys_call+0x3015/0x3cf0 [ 70.201065][ T9350] do_syscall_64+0xd9/0x1d0 [ 70.201506][ T9350] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f [ 70.202054][ T9350] [ 70.202279][ T9350] Uninit was created at: [ 70.202693][ T9350] __kmalloc_noprof+0x621/0xf80 [ 70.203149][ T9350] hfsplus_find_init+0x8d/0x1d0 [ 70.203602][ T9350] hfsplus_file_extend+0x6ca/0x1cf0 [ 70.204087][ T9350] hfsplus_get_block+0xe16/0x17b0 [ 70.204561][ T9350] __block_write_begin_int+0x962/0x2ce0 [ 70.205074][ T9350] cont_write_begin+0x1000/0x1950 [ 70.205547][ T9350] hfsplus_write_begin+0x85/0x130 [ 70.206017][ T9350] generic_perform_write+0x3e8/0x1060 [ 70.206519][ T9350] __generic_file_write_iter+0x215/0x460 [ 70.207042][ T9350] generic_file_write_iter+0x109/0x5e0 [ 70.207552][ T9350] vfs_write+0xb0f/0x14e0 [ 70.207961][ T9350] ksys_write+0x23e/0x490 [ 70.208375][ T9350] __x64_sys_write+0x97/0xf0 [ 70.208810][ T9350] x64_sys_call+0x3015/0x3cf0 [ 70.209255][ T9350] do_syscall_64+0xd9/0x1d0 [ 70.209680][ T9350] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f [ 70.210230][ T9350] [ 70.210454][ T9350] CPU: 2 UID: 0 PID: 9350 Comm: repro Not tainted 6.12.0-rc5 #5 [ 70.211174][ T9350] Hardware name: QEMU Ubuntu 24.04 PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014 [ 70.212115][ T9350] ===================================================== [ 70.212734][ T9350] Disabling lock debugging due to kernel taint [ 70.213284][ T9350] Kernel panic - not syncing: kmsan.panic set ... [ 70.213858][ T9350] CPU: 2 UID: 0 PID: 9350 Comm: repro Tainted: G B 6.12.0-rc5 #5 [ 70.214679][ T9350] Tainted: [B]=BAD_PAGE [ 70.215057][ T9350] Hardware name: QEMU Ubuntu 24.04 PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014 [ 70.215999][ T9350] Call Trace: [ 70.216309][ T9350] [ 70.216585][ T9350] dump_stack_lvl+0x1fd/0x2b0 [ 70.217025][ T9350] dump_stack+0x1e/0x30 [ 70.217421][ T9350] panic+0x502/0xca0 [ 70.217803][ T9350] ? kmsan_get_metadata+0x13e/0x1c0
[ 70.218294][ Message fromT sy9350] kmsan_report+0x296/slogd@syzkaller 0x2aat Aug 18 22:11:058 ... kernel :[ 70.213284][ T9350] Kernel panic - not syncing: kmsan.panic [ 70.220179][ T9350] ? kmsan_get_metadata+0x13e/0x1c0 set ... [ 70.221254][ T9350] ? __msan_warning+0x96/0x120 [ 70.222066][ T9350] ? __hfsplus_ext_cache_extent+0x7d0/0x990 [ 70.223023][ T9350] ? hfsplus_file_extend+0x74f/0x1cf0 [ 70.224120][ T9350] ? hfsplus_get_block+0xe16/0x17b0 [ 70.224946][ T9350] ? __block_write_begin_int+0x962/0x2ce0 [ 70.225756][ T9350] ? cont_write_begin+0x1000/0x1950 [ 70.226337][ T9350] ? hfsplus_write_begin+0x85/0x130 [ 70.226852][ T9350] ? generic_perform_write+0x3e8/0x1060 [ 70.227405][ T9350] ? __generic_file_write_iter+0x215/0x460 [ 70.227979][ T9350] ? generic_file_write_iter+0x109/0x5e0 [ 70.228540][ T9350] ? vfs_write+0xb0f/0x14e0 [ 70.228997][ T9350] ? ksys_write+0x23e/0x490 ---truncated---
AI Insight
LLM-synthesized narrative grounded in this CVE's description and references.
KMSAN reports uninitialized memory access in the Linux kernel's HFS+ filesystem when extending files, potentially leading to information disclosure or system crash.
The vulnerability is an uninitialized memory access (KMSAN uninit-value) in the __hfsplus_ext_cache_extent() function of the HFS+ filesystem driver. The root cause is that memory allocated via kmalloc in hfsplus_find_init() is not properly initialized before being used in extent cache operations [1][2][3][4].
The bug is triggered during file write operations on an HFS+ filesystem. The call chain shows that writing to a file leads to hfsplus_file_extend(), which calls __hfsplus_ext_cache_extent(), where the uninitialized value is read. No special privileges are required beyond the ability to write to an HFS+ filesystem (e.g., mounting a crafted HFS+ image).
An attacker who can trigger this code path may cause the kernel to read uninitialized kernel memory, potentially leaking sensitive information (KMSAN detects uninit values) or causing a system crash (kernel panic). The issue was discovered by syzbot fuzzing.
The Linux kernel stable tree has released patches to fix this issue. The commits referenced [1][2][3][4] address the uninitialized memory by ensuring proper initialization. Users should update to the latest stable kernel version to mitigate the vulnerability.
AI Insight generated on May 19, 2026. Synthesized from this CVE's description and the cited reference URLs; citations are validated against the source bundle.
Affected products
2Patches
8c1ec90bed504b8a72692aa42c135b8dca655d7e313039a8fa5bfb13b4f4099202d94909d14c673a2f3ec4840ceadef42Vulnerability mechanics
Generated on May 9, 2026. Inputs: CWE entries + fix-commit diffs from this CVE's patches. Citations validated against bundle.
References
8- git.kernel.org/stable/c/14c673a2f3ecf650b694a52a88688f1d71849899nvd
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/4840ceadef4290c56cc422f0fc697655f3cbf070nvd
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/99202d94909d323a30d154ab0261c0a07166daecnvd
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/a5bfb13b4f406aef1a450f99d22d3e48df01528cnvd
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/b8a72692aa42b7dcd179a96b90bc2763ac74576anvd
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/c135b8dca65526aa5b8814e9954e0ae317d9c598nvd
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/c1ec90bed504640a42bb20a5f413be39cd17ad71nvd
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/d7e313039a8f3a6ee072dc5ff4643234d2d735cfnvd
News mentions
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