dbcve.org
Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-38490

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-07-28
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.6.100 / 6.12.40 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: libwx: remove duplicate page_pool_put_full_page() page_pool_put_full_page() should only be invoked when freeing Rx buffers or building a skb if the size is too short. At other times, the pages need to be reused. So remove the redundant page put. In the original code, double free pages cause kernel panic: [ 876.949834] __irq_exit_rcu+0xc7/0x130 [ 876.949836] common_interrupt+0xb8/0xd0 [ 876.949838] </IRQ> [ 876.949838] <TASK> [ 876.949840] asm_common_interrupt+0x22/0x40 [ 876.949841] RIP: 0010:cpuidle_enter_state+0xc2/0x420 [ 876.949843] Code: 00 00 e8 d1 1d 5e ff e8 ac f0 ff ff 49 89 c5 0f 1f 44 00 00 31 ff e8 cd fc 5c ff 45 84 ff 0f 85 40 02 00 00 fb 0f 1f 44 00 00 <45> 85 f6 0f 88 84 01 00 00 49 63 d6 48 8d 04 52 48 8d 04 82 49 8d [ 876.949844] RSP: 0018:ffffaa7340267e78 EFLAGS: 00000246 [ 876.949845] RAX: ffff9e3f135be000 RBX: 0000000000000002 RCX: 0000000000000000 [ 876.949846] RDX: 000000cc2dc4cb7c RSI: ffffffff89ee49ae RDI: ffffffff89ef9f9e [ 876.949847] RBP: ffff9e378f940800 R08: 0000000000000002 R09: 00000000000000ed [ 876.949848] R10: 000000000000afc8 R11: ffff9e3e9e5a9b6c R12: ffffffff8a6d8580 [ 876.949849] R13: 000000cc2dc4cb7c R14: 0000000000000002 R15: 0000000000000000 [ 876.949852] ? cpuidle_enter_state+0xb3/0x420 [ 876.949855] cpuidle_enter+0x29/0x40 [ 876.949857] cpuidle_idle_call+0xfd/0x170 [ 876.949859] do_idle+0x7a/0xc0 [ 876.949861] cpu_startup_entry+0x25/0x30 [ 876.949862] start_secondary+0x117/0x140 [ 876.949864] common_startup_64+0x13e/0x148 [ 876.949867] </TASK> [ 876.949868] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- [ 876.949869] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [ 876.949870] list_del corruption, ffffead40445a348->next is NULL [ 876.949873] WARNING: CPU: 14 PID: 0 at lib/list_debug.c:52 __list_del_entry_valid_or_report+0x67/0x120 [ 876.949875] Modules linked in: snd_hrtimer(E) bnep(E) binfmt_misc(E) amdgpu(E) squashfs(E) vfat(E) loop(E) fat(E) amd_atl(E) snd_hda_codec_realtek(E) intel_rapl_msr(E) snd_hda_codec_generic(E) intel_rapl_common(E) snd_hda_scodec_component(E) snd_hda_codec_hdmi(E) snd_hda_intel(E) edac_mce_amd(E) snd_intel_dspcfg(E) snd_hda_codec(E) snd_hda_core(E) amdxcp(E) kvm_amd(E) snd_hwdep(E) gpu_sched(E) drm_panel_backlight_quirks(E) cec(E) snd_pcm(E) drm_buddy(E) snd_seq_dummy(E) drm_ttm_helper(E) btusb(E) kvm(E) snd_seq_oss(E) btrtl(E) ttm(E) btintel(E) snd_seq_midi(E) btbcm(E) drm_exec(E) snd_seq_midi_event(E) i2c_algo_bit(E) snd_rawmidi(E) bluetooth(E) drm_suballoc_helper(E) irqbypass(E) snd_seq(E) ghash_clmulni_intel(E) sha512_ssse3(E) drm_display_helper(E) aesni_intel(E) snd_seq_device(E) rfkill(E) snd_timer(E) gf128mul(E) drm_client_lib(E) drm_kms_helper(E) snd(E) i2c_piix4(E) joydev(E) soundcore(E) wmi_bmof(E) ccp(E) k10temp(E) i2c_smbus(E) gpio_amdpt(E) i2c_designware_platform(E) gpio_generic(E) sg(E) [ 876.949914] i2c_designware_core(E) sch_fq_codel(E) parport_pc(E) drm(E) ppdev(E) lp(E) parport(E) fuse(E) nfnetlink(E) ip_tables(E) ext4 crc16 mbcache jbd2 sd_mod sfp mdio_i2c i2c_core txgbe ahci ngbe pcs_xpcs libahci libwx r8169 phylink libata realtek ptp pps_core video wmi [ 876.949933] CPU: 14 UID: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/14 Kdump: loaded Tainted: G W E 6.16.0-rc2+ #20 PREEMPT(voluntary) [ 876.949935] Tainted: [W]=WARN, [E]=UNSIGNED_MODULE [ 876.949936] Hardware name: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. MS-7E16/X670E GAMING PLUS WIFI (MS-7E16), BIOS 1.90 12/31/2024 [ 876.949936] RIP: 0010:__list_del_entry_valid_or_report+0x67/0x120 [ 876.949938] Code: 00 00 00 48 39 7d 08 0f 85 a6 00 00 00 5b b8 01 00 00 00 5d 41 5c e9 73 0d 93 ff 48 89 fe 48 c7 c7 a0 31 e8 89 e8 59 7c b3 ff <0f> 0b 31 c0 5b 5d 41 5c e9 57 0d 93 ff 48 89 fe 48 c7 c7 c8 31 e8 [ 876.949940] RSP: 0018:ffffaa73405d0c60 EFLAGS: 00010282 [ 876.949941] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffffead40445a348 RCX: 0000000000000000 [ 876.949942] RDX: 0000000000000105 RSI: 00000 ---truncated---

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-415

The same block of memory is freed twice, corrupting the allocator's bookkeeping in ways an attacker can shape toward code execution. It usually stems from tangled ownership of a pointer. The fix is clear, single ownership of each allocation and clearing pointers once they are freed.

General guidance for the double free 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:>= 6.3, < 6.6.100>= 6.7, < 6.12.40>= 6.13, < 6.15.8= 6.16

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 6.6.100 / 6.12.40 / 6.15.8 or later
Fixed in 6.6.1006.12.406.15.8
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

6.6.100+ / 6.12.40+ / 6.15.8+ / latest 6.16.y stable

  1. 1. Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. 2. Check which version branch your current kernel belongs to (e.g., 6.6.x, 6.12.x, 6.13.x, or 6.16)
  3. 3. Based on your current kernel version, upgrade to the corresponding fixed release: for 6.3-6.6.x upgrade to 6.6.100 or later; for 6.7-6.12.x upgrade to 6.12.40 or later; for 6.13-6.15.x upgrade to 6.15.8 or later; for 6.16 upgrade to latest stable 6.16.y
  4. 4. Obtain the new kernel package from your distribution's package manager or kernel.org
  5. 5. Install the new kernel and reboot the system
Caveat Kernel upgrades may introduce compatibility issues with out-of-tree drivers or specific hardware configurations; test in non-production environment 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

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-38490 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2025-38490 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data