CVE-2025-40049

CVE-2025-40049 is a security vulnerability that is still awaiting full analysis and scoring. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low.

Key facts

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: Squashfs: fix uninit-value in squashfs_get_parent Syzkaller reports a "KMSAN: uninit-value in squashfs_get_parent" bug. This is caused by open_by_handle_at() being called with a file handle containing an invalid parent inode number. In particular the inode number is that of a symbolic link, rather than a directory. Squashfs_get_parent() gets called with that symbolic link inode, and accesses the parent member field. unsigned int parent_ino = squashfs_i(inode)->parent; Because non-directory inodes in Squashfs do not have a parent value, this is uninitialised, and this causes an uninitialised value access. The fix is to initialise parent with the invalid inode 0, which will cause an EINVAL error to be returned. Regular inodes used to share the parent field with the block_list_start field. This is removed in this commit to enable the parent field to contain the invalid inode number 0.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-40049?
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: Squashfs: fix uninit-value in squashfs_get_parent Syzkaller reports a "KMSAN: uninit-value in squashfs_get_parent" bug. This is caused by open_by_handle_at() being called with a file handle containing an invalid parent inode number. In particular the inode number is that of a symbolic link, rather than a directory. Squashfs_get_parent() gets called with that symbolic link inode, and accesses the parent member field. unsigned int parent_ino = squashfs_i(inode)->parent; Because non-directory inodes in Squashfs do not have a parent value, this is uninitialised, and this causes an uninitialised value access. The fix is to initialise parent with the invalid inode 0, which will cause an EINVAL error to be returned. Regular inodes used to share the parent field with the block_list_start field. This is removed in this commit to enable the parent field to contain the invalid inode number 0.
Is CVE-2025-40049 being actively exploited?
It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (11th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How do I fix CVE-2025-40049?
Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
Does CVE-2025-40049 have an EU (EUVD) identifier?
Yes. CVE-2025-40049 is tracked in the ENISA EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD) as EUVD-2025-36479.
When was CVE-2025-40049 published?
CVE-2025-40049 was published on 2025-10-28 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References