CVE-2025-37863: linux kernel vulnerability

What is known

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ovl: don't allow datadir only In theory overlayfs could support upper layer directly referring to a data layer, but there's no current use case for this. Originally, when data-only layers were introduced, this wasn't allowed, only introduced by the "datadir+" feature, but without actually handling this case, resulting in an Oops. Fix by disallowing datadir without lowerdir.

Business impact

Successful exploitation of CVE-2025-37863, a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.5) affecting linux kernel, may affect the confidentiality, integrity or availability of the vulnerable environment. The exact impact depends on the installed version, exposed interfaces and deployment configuration.

Recommended administrator action

Confirm whether linux kernel is present and compare installed versions with the vendor advisory and NVD record. Apply the vendor patch or documented mitigation; until remediation is complete, reduce exposure of affected interfaces, review relevant logs and monitor for indicators of exploitation. DataHouse can support version verification, managed patching, network exposure reduction, log review and backup validation for dedicated, cloud and colocated environments.

Sources

• NVD
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