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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-38146

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-07-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.10.239 / 5.15.186 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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: net: openvswitch: Fix the dead loop of MPLS parse The unexpected MPLS packet may not end with the bottom label stack. When there are many stacks, The label count value has wrapped around. A dead loop occurs, soft lockup/CPU stuck finally. stack backtrace: UBSAN: array-index-out-of-bounds in /build/linux-0Pa0xK/linux-5.15.0/net/openvswitch/flow.c:662:26 index -1 is out of range for type '__be32 [3]' CPU: 34 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/34 Kdump: loaded Tainted: G OE 5.15.0-121-generic #131-Ubuntu Hardware name: Dell Inc. PowerEdge C6420/0JP9TF, BIOS 2.12.2 07/14/2021 Call Trace: <IRQ> show_stack+0x52/0x5c dump_stack_lvl+0x4a/0x63 dump_stack+0x10/0x16 ubsan_epilogue+0x9/0x36 __ubsan_handle_out_of_bounds.cold+0x44/0x49 key_extract_l3l4+0x82a/0x840 [openvswitch] ? kfree_skbmem+0x52/0xa0 key_extract+0x9c/0x2b0 [openvswitch] ovs_flow_key_extract+0x124/0x350 [openvswitch] ovs_vport_receive+0x61/0xd0 [openvswitch] ? kernel_init_free_pages.part.0+0x4a/0x70 ? get_page_from_freelist+0x353/0x540 netdev_port_receive+0xc4/0x180 [openvswitch] ? netdev_port_receive+0x180/0x180 [openvswitch] netdev_frame_hook+0x1f/0x40 [openvswitch] __netif_receive_skb_core.constprop.0+0x23a/0xf00 __netif_receive_skb_list_core+0xfa/0x240 netif_receive_skb_list_internal+0x18e/0x2a0 napi_complete_done+0x7a/0x1c0 bnxt_poll+0x155/0x1c0 [bnxt_en] __napi_poll+0x30/0x180 net_rx_action+0x126/0x280 ? bnxt_msix+0x67/0x80 [bnxt_en] handle_softirqs+0xda/0x2d0 irq_exit_rcu+0x96/0xc0 common_interrupt+0x8e/0xa0 </IRQ>

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:>= 5.5, < 5.10.239>= 5.11, < 5.15.186>= 5.16, < 6.1.142>= 6.2, < 6.6.94>= 6.7, < 6.12.34>= 6.13, < 6.15.3
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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 5.10.239 / 5.15.186 / 6.1.142 or later
Fixed in 5.10.2395.15.1866.1.142
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

6.6.94 (or latest stable LTS kernel in the 6.x series)

  1. 1. Identify the currently running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. 2. For systems running kernel >= 5.5 and < 5.10.239: upgrade to kernel version 5.10.239 or later
  3. 3. For systems running kernel >= 5.11 and < 5.15.186: upgrade to kernel version 5.15.186 or later
  4. 4. For systems running kernel >= 5.16 and < 6.1.142: upgrade to kernel version 6.1.142 or later
  5. 5. For systems running kernel >= 6.2 and < 6.6.94: upgrade to kernel version 6.6.94 or later
  6. 6. For Debian 11.0 systems: apply vendor security updates to obtain the fixed kernel package
  7. 7. After kernel upgrade, reboot the system to load the patched kernel
  8. 8. Verify the fix by checking the kernel version and confirming openvswitch operations work correctly
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could have compatibility impacts with custom kernel modules or specific hardware drivers; test thoroughly in non-production environments first

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 $1,950. 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-2025-38146 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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