Linux: Use After Free
CVE-2025-38106 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8 out of 10. It can be exploited with local access to the system by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. The record lists versions af8c13f9ee040b9a287ba246cf0055f7c77b7cc8, d0932758a0a77b38ba1b39564f3b7aba12407061, ac0b8b327a5677dc6fecdf353d808161525b1ff0 as the first without the flaw, so updating Linux to one of those releases or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.2% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Update Linux to af8c13f9ee040b9a287ba246cf0055f7c77b7cc8 or d0932758a0a77b38ba1b39564f3b7aba12407061 or ac0b8b327a5677dc6fecdf353d808161525b1ff0, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
- Update Linux Kernel to 6.12.34 or 6.15.3, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 3fcb9d17206e31630f802a3ab52081d1342b8ed9 up to, but not including, af8c13f9ee040b9a287ba246cf0055f7c77b7cc8; 3fcb9d17206e31630f802a3ab52081d1342b8ed9 up to, but not including, d0932758a0a77b38ba1b39564f3b7aba12407061; 3fcb9d17206e31630f802a3ab52081d1342b8ed9 up to, but not including, ac0b8b327a5677dc6fecdf353d808161525b1ff0; 6.9 | af8c13f9ee040b9a287ba246cf0055f7c77b7cc8, d0932758a0a77b38ba1b39564f3b7aba12407061, ac0b8b327a5677dc6fecdf353d808161525b1ff0 |
| Linux | Linux Kernel | 6.9 up to, but not including, 6.12.34; 6.13 up to, but not including, 6.15.3; 6.16 | 6.12.34, 6.15.3 |
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- LocalThe attacker needs local access or must trick a user into running something.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- LowA basic user account is enough.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
- Confidentiality
- HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
- Integrity
- HighData or code can be modified at will.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by NVD.
| Scoring system | Score | Severity | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | 7.8 | High | CNA |
| CVSS 3.1 | 7.8 | High | NVD |
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: io_uring: fix use-after-free of sq->thread in __io_uring_show_fdinfo() syzbot reports: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in getrusage+0x1109/0x1a60 Read of size 8 at addr ffff88810de2d2c8 by task a.out/304 CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 304 Comm: a.out Not tainted 6.16.0-rc1 #1 PREEMPT(voluntary) Hardware name: QEMU Ubuntu 24.04 PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x53/0x70 print_report+0xd0/0x670 ? __pfx__raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x10/0x10 ? getrusage+0x1109/0x1a60 kasan_report+0xce/0x100 ? getrusage+0x1109/0x1a60 getrusage+0x1109/0x1a60 ? __pfx_getrusage+0x10/0x10 __io_uring_show_fdinfo+0x9fe/0x1790 ? ksys_read+0xf7/0x1c0 ? do_syscall_64+0xa4/0x260 ? vsnprintf+0x591/0x1100 ? __pfx___io_uring_show_fdinfo+0x10/0x10 ? __pfx_vsnprintf+0x10/0x10 ? mutex_trylock+0xcf/0x130 ? __pfx_mutex_trylock+0x10/0x10 ? __pfx_show_fd_locks+0x10/0x10 ? io_uring_show_fdinfo+0x57/0x80 io_uring_show_fdinfo+0x57/0x80 seq_show+0x38c/0x690 seq_read_iter+0x3f7/0x1180 ? inode_set_ctime_current+0x160/0x4b0 seq_read+0x271/0x3e0 ? __pfx_seq_read+0x10/0x10 ? __pfx__raw_spin_lock+0x10/0x10 ? __mark_inode_dirty+0x402/0x810 ? selinux_file_permission+0x368/0x500 ? file_update_time+0x10f/0x160 vfs_read+0x177/0xa40 ? __pfx___handle_mm_fault+0x10/0x10 ? __pfx_vfs_read+0x10/0x10 ? mutex_lock+0x81/0xe0 ? __pfx_mutex_lock+0x10/0x10 ? fdget_pos+0x24d/0x4b0 ksys_read+0xf7/0x1c0 ? __pfx_ksys_read+0x10/0x10 ? do_user_addr_fault+0x43b/0x9c0 do_syscall_64+0xa4/0x260 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f RIP: 0033:0x7f0f74170fc9 Code: 00 c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 0f 1f 44 00 00 48 89 f8 48 89 f7 48 89 d6 48 89 ca 4d 89 c2 4d 89 c8 4c 8b 4c 24 08 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 8b 8 RSP: 002b:00007fffece049e8 EFLAGS: 00000206 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000000 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: 00007f0f74170fc9 RDX: 0000000000001000 RSI: 00007fffece049f0 RDI: 0000000000000004 RBP: 00007fffece05ad0 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 00007fffece04d90 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000206 R12: 00005651720a1100 R13: 0000000000000000 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 0000000000000000 </TASK> Allocated by task 298: kasan_save_stack+0x33/0x60 kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 __kasan_slab_alloc+0x6e/0x70 kmem_cache_alloc_node_noprof+0xe8/0x330 copy_process+0x376/0x5e00 create_io_thread+0xab/0xf0 io_sq_offload_create+0x9ed/0xf20 io_uring_setup+0x12b0/0x1cc0 do_syscall_64+0xa4/0x260 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f Freed by task 22: kasan_save_stack+0x33/0x60 kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 kasan_save_free_info+0x3b/0x60 __kasan_slab_free+0x37/0x50 kmem_cache_free+0xc4/0x360 rcu_core+0x5ff/0x19f0 handle_softirqs+0x18c/0x530 run_ksoftirqd+0x20/0x30 smpboot_thread_fn+0x287/0x6c0 kthread+0x30d/0x630 ret_from_fork+0xef/0x1a0 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 Last potentially related work creation: kasan_save_stack+0x33/0x60 kasan_record_aux_stack+0x8c/0xa0 __call_rcu_common.constprop.0+0x68/0x940 __schedule+0xff2/0x2930 __cond_resched+0x4c/0x80 mutex_lock+0x5c/0xe0 io_uring_del_tctx_node+0xe1/0x2b0 io_uring_clean_tctx+0xb7/0x160 io_uring_cancel_generic+0x34e/0x760 do_exit+0x240/0x2350 do_group_exit+0xab/0x220 __x64_sys_exit_group+0x39/0x40 x64_sys_call+0x1243/0x1840 do_syscall_64+0xa4/0x260 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f The buggy address belongs to the object at ffff88810de2cb00 which belongs to the cache task_struct of size 3712 The buggy address is located 1992 bytes inside of freed 3712-byte region [ffff88810de2cb00, ffff88810de2d980) which is caused by the task_struct pointed to by sq->thread being released while it is being used in the function __io_uring_show_fdinfo(). Holding ctx->uring_lock does not prevent ehre relase or exit of sq->thread. Fix this by assigning and looking up ->thread under RCU, and grabbing a reference to the task_struct. This e ---truncated---
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Use After Free
The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory belongs to the code that operates on the new pointer.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Choose a language that provides automatic memory management.
- When freeing pointers, be sure to set them to NULL once they are freed. However, the utilization of multiple or complex data structures may lower the usefulness of this strategy.
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Patches and release notes
Recent Use After Free vulnerabilities
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