CVE-2025-23138
kernel: watch_queue: fix pipe accounting mismatch
Severity
ModerateRed Hat Product Security
CVSS 3.1
Review impact separately from score.
Published · April 16, 2025
Updated · June 30, 2026
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
watch_queue: fix pipe accounting mismatch
Currently, watch_queue_set_size() modifies the pipe buffers charged to user->pipe_bufs without updating the pipe->nr_accounted on the pipe itself, due to the if (!pipe_has_watch_queue()) test in pipe_resize_ring(). This means that when the pipe is ultimately freed, we decrement user->pipe_bufs by something other than what than we had charged to it, potentially leading to an underflow. This in turn can cause subsequent too_many_pipe_buffers_soft() tests to fail with -EPERM.
To remedy this, explicitly account for the pipe usage in watch_queue_set_size() to match the number set via account_pipe_buffers()
(It's unclear why watch_queue_set_size() does not update nr_accounted; it may be due to intentional overprovisioning in watch_queue_set_size()?)
CVSS score applicability
The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.
Mitigation
No mitigation is specified in collected source.
CVSS / CWE
CVSS 3.1 · 5.5CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CWE-191 · Integer Underflow (Wrap or Wraparound)