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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-38345

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-07-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.4.295 / 5.10.239 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: ACPICA: fix acpi operand cache leak in dswstate.c ACPICA commit 987a3b5cf7175916e2a4b6ea5b8e70f830dfe732 I found an ACPI cache leak in ACPI early termination and boot continuing case. When early termination occurs due to malicious ACPI table, Linux kernel terminates ACPI function and continues to boot process. While kernel terminates ACPI function, kmem_cache_destroy() reports Acpi-Operand cache leak. Boot log of ACPI operand cache leak is as follows: >[ 0.585957] ACPI: Added _OSI(Module Device) >[ 0.587218] ACPI: Added _OSI(Processor Device) >[ 0.588530] ACPI: Added _OSI(3.0 _SCP Extensions) >[ 0.589790] ACPI: Added _OSI(Processor Aggregator Device) >[ 0.591534] ACPI Error: Illegal I/O port address/length above 64K: C806E00000004002/0x2 (20170303/hwvalid-155) >[ 0.594351] ACPI Exception: AE_LIMIT, Unable to initialize fixed events (20170303/evevent-88) >[ 0.597858] ACPI: Unable to start the ACPI Interpreter >[ 0.599162] ACPI Error: Could not remove SCI handler (20170303/evmisc-281) >[ 0.601836] kmem_cache_destroy Acpi-Operand: Slab cache still has objects >[ 0.603556] CPU: 0 PID: 1 Comm: swapper/0 Not tainted 4.12.0-rc5 #26 >[ 0.605159] Hardware name: innotek gmb_h virtual_box/virtual_box, BIOS virtual_box 12/01/2006 >[ 0.609177] Call Trace: >[ 0.610063] ? dump_stack+0x5c/0x81 >[ 0.611118] ? kmem_cache_destroy+0x1aa/0x1c0 >[ 0.612632] ? acpi_sleep_proc_init+0x27/0x27 >[ 0.613906] ? acpi_os_delete_cache+0xa/0x10 >[ 0.617986] ? acpi_ut_delete_caches+0x3f/0x7b >[ 0.619293] ? acpi_terminate+0xa/0x14 >[ 0.620394] ? acpi_init+0x2af/0x34f >[ 0.621616] ? __class_create+0x4c/0x80 >[ 0.623412] ? video_setup+0x7f/0x7f >[ 0.624585] ? acpi_sleep_proc_init+0x27/0x27 >[ 0.625861] ? do_one_initcall+0x4e/0x1a0 >[ 0.627513] ? kernel_init_freeable+0x19e/0x21f >[ 0.628972] ? rest_init+0x80/0x80 >[ 0.630043] ? kernel_init+0xa/0x100 >[ 0.631084] ? ret_from_fork+0x25/0x30 >[ 0.633343] vgaarb: loaded >[ 0.635036] EDAC MC: Ver: 3.0.0 >[ 0.638601] PCI: Probing PCI hardware >[ 0.639833] PCI host bridge to bus 0000:00 >[ 0.641031] pci_bus 0000:00: root bus resource [io 0x0000-0xffff] > ... Continue to boot and log is omitted ... I analyzed this memory leak in detail and found acpi_ds_obj_stack_pop_and_ delete() function miscalculated the top of the stack. acpi_ds_obj_stack_push() function uses walk_state->operand_index for start position of the top, but acpi_ds_obj_stack_pop_and_delete() function considers index 0 for it. Therefore, this causes acpi operand memory leak. This cache leak causes a security threat because an old kernel (<= 4.9) shows memory locations of kernel functions in stack dump. Some malicious users could use this information to neutralize kernel ASLR. I made a patch to fix ACPI operand cache leak.

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-401

Allocated 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
Affected:< 5.4.295>= 5.5, < 5.10.239>= 5.11, < 5.15.186>= 5.16, < 6.1.142>= 6.2, < 6.6.95>= 6.7, < 6.12.35>= 6.13, < 6.15.4
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 5.4.295 / 5.10.239 / 5.15.186 or later
Fixed in 5.4.2955.10.2395.15.186
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 6.1.142+ (or 5.15.186+, 5.10.239+, 5.4.295+ depending on branch)

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using 'uname -r'
  2. Determine which major kernel branch your current version belongs to (5.4.x, 5.10.x, 5.15.x, or 6.1.x)
  3. For 5.4.x branch: upgrade to kernel version 5.4.295 or later
  4. For 5.10.x branch: upgrade to kernel version 5.10.239 or later
  5. For 5.15.x branch: upgrade to kernel version 5.15.186 or later
  6. For 6.1.x branch: upgrade to kernel version 6.1.142 or later
  7. For Debian 11 (bullseye): apply Debian kernel update or rebuild with backported patch commit 156fd20a41e776bbf334bd5e45c4f78dfc90ce1c
  8. Reboot into the new kernel and verify fix by checking dmesg for 'kmem_cache_destroy Acpi-Operand' messages - they should no longer appear after ACPI initialization failures
Caveat Kernel upgrades may introduce regressions; ensure compatibility with system hardware and custom modules before deploying in production

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

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