Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2025-38584
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: padata: Fix pd UAF once and for all There is a race condition/UAF in padata_reorder that goes back to the initial commit. A reference count is taken at the start of the process in padata_do_parallel, and released at the end in padata_serial_worker. This reference count is (and only is) required for padata_replace to function correctly. If padata_replace is never called then there is no issue. In the function padata_reorder which serves as the core of padata, as soon as padata is added to queue->serial.list, and the associated spin lock released, that padata may be processed and the reference count on pd would go away. Fix this by getting the next padata before the squeue->serial lock is released. In order to make this possible, simplify padata_reorder by only calling it once the next padata arrives.
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 analysisMemory is used after it has been freed, so its contents — now potentially attacker-controlled — drive the program's behaviour. With careful heap grooming this becomes code execution. The fix requires disciplined ownership of memory and often a targeted rework of the object lifecycle.
General guidance for the use after 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
>= 2.6.34, < 6.15.10>= 6.16, < 6.16.1CVSS 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 · scoped6.15.106.16.1
Upgrade to Linux kernel >= 6.15.10 or >= 6.16.1 (whichever is the next stable release for your branch)
- Check current kernel version with 'uname -r' or 'cat /proc/version'
- If running kernel < 6.15.10, plan upgrade to kernel >= 6.15.10
- If running kernel >= 6.16 but < 6.16.1, plan upgrade to kernel >= 6.16.1
- Obtain the appropriate kernel package from your Linux distribution's official repositories or kernel.org
- Ensure all user-space services relying on padata (used by crypto/parallel processing subsystems) are not actively processing work during upgrade
- Reboot into the new kernel after upgrade
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-2025-38584 — 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-2025-38584 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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