Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2025-38300
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 · uneditedIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: crypto: sun8i-ce-cipher - fix error handling in sun8i_ce_cipher_prepare() Fix two DMA cleanup issues on the error path in sun8i_ce_cipher_prepare(): 1] If dma_map_sg() fails for areq->dst, the device driver would try to free DMA memory it has not allocated in the first place. To fix this, on the "theend_sgs" error path, call dma unmap only if the corresponding dma map was successful. 2] If the dma_map_single() call for the IV fails, the device driver would try to free an invalid DMA memory address on the "theend_iv" path: ------------[ cut here ]------------ DMA-API: sun8i-ce 1904000.crypto: device driver tries to free an invalid DMA memory address WARNING: CPU: 2 PID: 69 at kernel/dma/debug.c:968 check_unmap+0x123c/0x1b90 Modules linked in: skcipher_example(O+) CPU: 2 UID: 0 PID: 69 Comm: 1904000.crypto- Tainted: G O 6.15.0-rc3+ #24 PREEMPT Tainted: [O]=OOT_MODULE Hardware name: OrangePi Zero2 (DT) pc : check_unmap+0x123c/0x1b90 lr : check_unmap+0x123c/0x1b90 ... Call trace: check_unmap+0x123c/0x1b90 (P) debug_dma_unmap_page+0xac/0xc0 dma_unmap_page_attrs+0x1f4/0x5fc sun8i_ce_cipher_do_one+0x1bd4/0x1f40 crypto_pump_work+0x334/0x6e0 kthread_worker_fn+0x21c/0x438 kthread+0x374/0x664 ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- To fix this, check for !dma_mapping_error() before calling dma_unmap_single() on the "theend_iv" path.
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 analysisAllocated memory is never released on some path, so a long-running service or a repeatedly triggered request steadily consumes memory until performance degrades or the process crashes. Attackers exploit it by simply driving the leaking path. Remediation is pairing every allocation with a release and using ownership patterns or tooling to catch what leaks.
General guidance for the memory leak class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →
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
>= 5.5, < 6.1.142>= 6.2, < 6.6.94>= 6.7, < 6.12.34>= 6.13, < 6.15.3
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 11.0CVSS 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 · scoped6.1.1426.6.946.12.34
Upgrade to Linux kernel 6.1.142+, 6.6.94+, 6.12.34+, or 6.15.3+ (or Debian 11 kernel update from security repository)
- Identify the currently running kernel version using `uname -r`
- Determine which kernel stable branch your current version belongs to based on the affected version ranges (>=5.5,<6.1.142, >=6.2,<6.6.94, >=6.7,<6.12.34, or >=6.13,<6.15.3)
- Upgrade the Linux kernel to one of the fixed releases: 6.1.142 or higher, 6.6.94 or higher, 6.12.34 or higher, or 6.15.3 or higher
- For Debian 11 systems, apply the Debian kernel security update that incorporates this fix from the Debian security repository
- Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
- Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version matches a fixed release and reviewing the commit 19d267d9fad00d94ad8477899e38ed7c11f33fb6 is included
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-38300 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-38300 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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