CVE-2025-21646

MEDIUMCVSS 5.5/10EPSS 0.20%

Last modified

CVE-2025-21646 is a medium-severity vulnerability rated 5.5/10 on the CVSS scale. In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: afs: Fix the maximum cell name length The kafs filesystem limits the maximum length of a cell to 256 bytes, but a problem occurs if someone actually does that: kafs tries to create a directory under /proc/net/afs/ with the name of the cell, but that fails with a warning: WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 9 at fs/proc/generic.c:405 because procfs limits the maximum filename length to 255. However, the DNS limits the maximum lookup length and, by extension, the maximum cell name, to 255 less two (length count and trailing NUL). Fix this by limiting the maximum acceptable cellname length to 253. This also allows us to be sure we can create the "/afs/.<cell>/" mountpoint too. Further, split the YFS VL record cell name maximum to be the 256 allowed by the protocol and ignore the record retrieved by YFSVL.GetCellName if it exceeds 253.. EPSS estimates a 0.20% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: afs: Fix the maximum cell name length The kafs filesystem limits the maximum length of a cell to 256 bytes, but a problem occurs if someone actually does that: kafs tries to create a directory under /proc/net/afs/ with the name of the cell, but that fails with a warning: WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 9 at fs/proc/generic.c:405 because procfs limits the maximum filename length to 255. However, the DNS limits the maximum lookup length and, by extension, the maximum cell name, to 255 less two (length count and trailing NUL). Fix this by limiting the maximum acceptable cellname length to 253. This also allows us to be sure we can create the "/afs/.<cell>/" mountpoint too. Further, split the YFS VL record cell name maximum to be the 256 allowed by the protocol and ignore the record retrieved by YFSVL.GetCellName if it exceeds 253.

Metrics

CVSS 3.1
5.5/10

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS Probability
0.20%

9.9th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Affected Software

VendorProductVersionsUpdate
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 5.8, < 5.10.234
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 5.11, < 5.15.177
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 5.16, < 6.1.125
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 6.2, < 6.6.72
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 6.7, < 6.12.10
LinuxLinux Kernel6.13Rc1

References

Timeline

Published
Last Modified
Status
Modified

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-21646?
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: afs: Fix the maximum cell name length The kafs filesystem limits the maximum length of a cell to 256 bytes, but a problem occurs if someone actually does that: kafs tries to create a directory under /proc/net/afs/ with the name of the cell, but that fails with a warning: WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 9 at fs/proc/generic.c:405 because procfs limits the maximum filename length to 255. However, the DNS limits the maximum lookup length and, by extension, the maximum cell name, to 255 less two (length count and trailing NUL). Fix this by limiting the maximum acceptable cellname length to 253. This also allows us to be sure we can create the "/afs/.<cell>/" mountpoint too. Further, split the YFS VL record cell name maximum to be the 256 allowed by the protocol and ignore the record retrieved by YFSVL.GetCellName if it exceeds 253.
How severe is CVE-2025-21646?
CVE-2025-21646 has a CVSS score of 5.5/10 (MEDIUM severity). The EPSS model estimates a 0.20% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How do I fix CVE-2025-21646?
Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.

Are you affected by CVE-2025-21646?

Run a free Strix scan to check your systems for this vulnerability.

Scan your code now

Source: NVD / NIST