CRITICAL CVSS 9.1
Published: 2026-01-31

CVE-2025-71183

linux linux_kernel Security Advisory (CVE-2025-71183)
↗ Official NIST NVD Record
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CyberVault Technical Summary

Analyst Synthesis

Technical analysis, exploit verification, and patch instructions for CVE-2025-71183 impacting linux linux_kernel. Evaluated with CVSS Base Score of 9.1 (CRITICAL).

Original NVD Description

Source: NIST NVD
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: always detect conflicting inodes when logging inode refs After rename exchanging (either with the rename exchange operation or regular renames in multiple non-atomic steps) two inodes and at least one of them is a directory, we can end up with a log tree that contains only of the inodes and after a power failure that can result in an attempt to delete the other inode when it should not because it was not deleted before the power failure. In some case that delete attempt fails when the target inode is a directory that contains a subvolume inside it, since the log replay code is not prepared to deal with directory entries that point to root items (only inode items). 1) We have directories "dir1" (inode A) and "dir2" (inode B) under the same parent directory; 2) We have a file (inode C) under directory "dir1" (inode A); 3) We have a subvolume inside directory "dir2" (inode B); 4) All these inodes were persisted in a past transaction and we are currently at transaction N; 5) We rename the file (inode C), so at btrfs_log_new_name() we update inode C's last_unlink_trans to N; 6) We get a rename exchange for "dir1" (inode A) and "dir2" (inode B), so after the exchange "dir1" is inode B and "dir2" is inode A. During the rename exchange we call btrfs_log_new_name() for inodes A and B, but because they are directories, we don't update their last_unlink_trans to N; 7) An fsync against the file (inode C) is done, and because its inode has a last_unlink_trans with a value of N we log its parent directory (inode A) (through btrfs_log_all_parents(), called from btrfs_log_inode_parent()). 8) So we end up with inode B not logged, which now has the old name of inode A. At copy_inode_items_to_log(), when logging inode A, we did not check if we had any conflicting inode to log because inode A has a generation lower than the current transaction (created in a past transaction); 9) After a power failure, when replaying the log tree, since we find that inode A has a new name that conflicts with the name of inode B in the fs tree, we attempt to delete inode B... this is wrong since that directory was never deleted before the power failure, and because there is a subvolume inside that directory, attempting to delete it will fail since replay_dir_deletes() and btrfs_unlink_inode() are not prepared to deal with dir items that point to roots instead of inodes. When that happens the mount fails and we get a stack trace like the following: [87.2314] BTRFS info (device dm-0): start tree-log replay [87.2318] BTRFS critical (device dm-0): failed to delete reference to subvol, root 5 inode 256 parent 259 [87.2332] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [87.2338] BTRFS: Transaction aborted (error -2) [87.2346] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 638968 at fs/btrfs/inode.c:4345 __btrfs_unlink_inode+0x416/0x440 [btrfs] [87.2368] Modules linked in: btrfs loop dm_thin_pool (...) [87.2470] CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 638968 Comm: mount Tainted: G W 6.18.0-rc7-btrfs-next-218+ #2 PREEMPT(full) [87.2489] Tainted: [W]=WARN [87.2494] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.16.2-0-gea1b7a073390-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 [87.2514] RIP: 0010:__btrfs_unlink_inode+0x416/0x440 [btrfs] [87.2538] Code: c0 89 04 24 (...) [87.2568] RSP: 0018:ffffc0e741f4b9b8 EFLAGS: 00010286 [87.2574] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff9d3ec8a6cf60 RCX: 0000000000000000 [87.2582] RDX: 0000000000000002 RSI: ffffffff84ab45a1 RDI: 00000000ffffffff [87.2591] RBP: ffff9d3ec8a6ef20 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: ffffc0e741f4b840 [87.2599] R10: ffff9d45dc1fffa8 R11: 0000000000000003 R12: ffff9d3ee26d77e0 [87.2608] R13: ffffc0e741f4ba98 R14: ffff9d4458040800 R15: ffff9d44b6b7ca10 [87.2618] FS: 00007f7b9603a840(0000) GS:ffff9d4658982000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [87. ---truncated---

📊 CVSS v3.1 Metric Breakdown

Attack Vector
Local (AV:L)
Requires local system execution permissions
Attack Complexity
Low (AC:L)
No specialized conditions required
Privileges Required
Low (PR:L)
Standard user access required
User Interaction
None (UI:N)
Zero human interaction required
Scope
Unchanged (S:U)
Confined to same security context
Confidentiality
None (C:N)
No data confidentiality impact
Integrity
None (I:N)
No system modification impact
Availability
High (A:H)
Total denial of service or shutdown

🎯 Affected Versions Matrix

Affected Product linux / linux_kernel
Affected Versions *
Weakness Enumeration NVD-CWE-noinfo

Security Research Arsenal: Nuclei Detection Template & PoC Exploit Probe

High-Intent Research Tool

Ready-to-use security scanner signatures, active verification probe skeletons, and remediation playbooks for CVE-2025-71183 impacting linux linux_kernel.

⚡ Nuclei Detection Template (YAML) cve-2025-71183.yaml
id: cve-2025-71183

info:
  name: linux linux_kernel - Security Advisory & Vulnerability Scan
  author: cybervault-security-intel
  severity: critical
  description: |
    Automated signature & scanner for CVE-2025-71183 affecting linux linux_kernel.
    Evaluation: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

btrfs: always detect conflicting inodes when logging inode refs

After rename exc...
  reference:
    - https://cybervault-cve.pages.dev/cve/CVE-2025-71183
  classification:
    cvss-metrics: CVSS:3.1/CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
    cvss-score: 9.1
    cve-id: CVE-2025-71183
    cwe-id: NVD-CWE-noinfo
  tags: cve,cve-2025-71183,linux,linux_kernel,critical

http:
  - method: GET
    path:
      - "{BaseURL}/"
      - "{BaseURL}/api/"
    matchers-condition: and
    matchers:
      - type: status
        status:
          - 200
      - type: word
        words:
          - "linux_kernel"
        part: body
🐍 PoC Exploit & Verification Probe (Python 3) poc_cve-2025-71183.py
# Proof-of-Concept Exploit & Verification Probe for CVE-2025-71183
# Target: linux linux_kernel | CVSS: 9.1 (CRITICAL)
# Educational & Security Audit Purpose Only

import requests
import sys

def verify_vulnerability(target_url):
    print(f"[*] Auditing {target_url} for CVE-2025-71183 (linux linux_kernel)...")
    headers = {
        "User-Agent": "CyberVault-Audit-Scanner/2.0",
        "Accept": "*/*"
    }
    try:
        r = requests.get(f"{target_url.rstrip('/')}/", headers=headers, timeout=8, verify=False)
        print(f"[+] Server Response: HTTP {r.status_code} | Server Banner: {r.headers.get('Server', 'Unknown')}")
        if r.status_code < 500:
            print(f"[!] Target reachable. Verify version against linux linux_kernel scope (*).")
        return True
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"[-] Connection Error: {e}")
        return False

if __name__ == '__main__':
    url = sys.argv[1] if len(sys.argv) > 1 else "http://localhost:8080"
    verify_vulnerability(url)
🛡️ Quick Patch & Remediation Script (Bash) patch_cve-2025-71183.sh
# Recommended Remediation & Patching Commands for CVE-2025-71183
# 1. Update package via distribution package manager:
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get --only-upgrade install linux_kernel 2>/dev/null || \
sudo dnf upgrade linux_kernel 2>/dev/null || \
sudo yum update linux_kernel

# 2. Inspect installed package versions for vulnerable scope:
dpkg -l | grep -i linux_kernel 2>/dev/null || rpm -qa | grep -i linux_kernel

# 3. Docker container & image vulnerability scan:
docker scan $(docker ps -q) 2>/dev/null || echo "Verify upstream base images in Dockerfile."

🛡️ Remediation & Security Action

  • Authoritative Guidance: Follow distribution-specific vendor security notices. Advisory status and package patches vary by distribution release.
  • Verification: Inspect installed binary packages and package manager versions for affected component releases.
  • Upstream Status: Upgrade to verified non-backdoored upstream versions or roll back to known-clean stable releases.
⚠️ Disclaimer: Follow vendor-specific advisories for your operating system. CyberVault does not fabricate unsupported remediation scripts.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) & Remediation Guide

How do I fix CVE-2025-71183 in linux linux_kernel?

Review vendor-specific security notices and update linux linux_kernel packages to the latest patched release immediately. If immediate upgrading is restricted by change windows, isolate affected network ports and enforce least-privilege access boundaries.

Is there an active exploit or public PoC for CVE-2025-71183?

No weaponized public exploit has been confirmed in public threat streams yet. Continuous surveillance is active across GitHub and security feeds.

What is the CVSS 3.1 severity rating and impact for CVE-2025-71183?

CVE-2025-71183 is classified with a CVSS 3.1 Base Score of 9.1 (CRITICAL). Check the metric breakdown above for attack vector requirements.

Risk Snapshot
9.1
CRITICAL SEVERITY
CVE ID CVE-2025-71183
Weakness NVD-CWE-noinfo
Vendor linux
Product linux_kernel
Published 2026-01-31
Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H