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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-38031

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-06-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.10.238 / 5.15.185 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: padata: do not leak refcount in reorder_work A recent patch that addressed a UAF introduced a reference count leak: the parallel_data refcount is incremented unconditionally, regardless of the return value of queue_work(). If the work item is already queued, the incremented refcount is never decremented. Fix this by checking the return value of queue_work() and decrementing the refcount when necessary. Resolves: Unreferenced object 0xffff9d9f421e3d80 (size 192): comm "cryptomgr_probe", pid 157, jiffies 4294694003 hex dump (first 32 bytes): 80 8b cf 41 9f 9d ff ff b8 97 e0 89 ff ff ff ff ...A............ d0 97 e0 89 ff ff ff ff 19 00 00 00 1f 88 23 00 ..............#. backtrace (crc 838fb36): __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x284/0x320 padata_alloc_pd+0x20/0x1e0 padata_alloc_shell+0x3b/0xa0 0xffffffffc040a54d cryptomgr_probe+0x43/0xc0 kthread+0xf6/0x1f0 ret_from_fork+0x2f/0x50 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 5.10.235, < 5.10.238>= 5.15.179, < 5.15.185>= 6.1.129, < 6.1.141>= 6.6.76, < 6.6.93>= 6.12.13, < 6.12.31>= 6.13.2, < 6.14.9= 6.15
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 11.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

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

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.10.238 / 5.15.185 / 6.1.141 or later
Fixed in 5.10.2385.15.1856.1.141
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux kernel 5.10.238+, 5.15.185+, 6.1.141+, or 6.6.93+ (or Debian 12+ for Debian-based systems)

  1. Upgrade Linux kernel to version 5.10.238 or later for the 5.10.y branch
  2. Upgrade Linux kernel to version 5.15.185 or later for the 5.15.y branch
  3. Upgrade Linux kernel to version 6.1.141 or later for the 6.1.y branch
  4. Upgrade Linux kernel to version 6.6.93 or later for the 6.6.y branch
  5. After kernel upgrade, reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could have compatibility implications with proprietary kernel modules

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,600. Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-38031 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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