Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-38730

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.6.103 / 6.12.44 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: io_uring/net: commit partial buffers on retry Ring provided buffers are potentially only valid within the single execution context in which they were acquired. io_uring deals with this and invalidates them on retry. But on the networking side, if MSG_WAITALL is set, or if the socket is of the streaming type and too little was processed, then it will hang on to the buffer rather than recycle or commit it. This is problematic for two reasons: 1) If someone unregisters the provided buffer ring before a later retry, then the req->buf_list will no longer be valid. 2) If multiple sockers are using the same buffer group, then multiple receives can consume the same memory. This can cause data corruption in the application, as either receive could land in the same userspace buffer. Fix this by disallowing partial retries from pinning a provided buffer across multiple executions, if ring provided buffers are used.

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-787

The program writes past the bounds of a buffer, overwriting adjacent memory an attacker can turn to their advantage. Crafted input can overwrite control data and redirect execution. Remediation is validating every index and length before a write, plus modern memory-safety mitigations.

General guidance for the out-of-bounds write 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:>= 6.4, < 6.6.103>= 6.7, < 6.12.44>= 6.13, < 6.15.11>= 6.16, < 6.16.2= 6.17

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 6.6.103 / 6.12.44 / 6.15.11 or later
Fixed in 6.6.1036.12.446.15.11
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux kernel 6.6.103, 6.12.44, 6.15.11, or 6.16.2 (depending on which branch you are running)

  1. Upgrade the Linux kernel to a version that includes the fix commit 21a4ddb0f5e933f372808c10b9ac704505751bb1
  2. For kernels in the 6.4-6.6 branch: upgrade to version 6.6.103 or later
  3. For kernels in the 6.7-6.12 branch: upgrade to version 6.12.44 or later
  4. For kernels in the 6.13-6.15 branch: upgrade to version 6.15.11 or later
  5. For kernels in the 6.16 branch: upgrade to version 6.16.2 or later
  6. After kernel upgrade, reboot the system to load the patched kernel
  7. If using provided buffer rings with io_uring networking operations (especially with MSG_WAITALL or streaming sockets), verify normal operation after reboot
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could introduce compatibility issues with out-of-tree kernel modules or specific hardware drivers; ensure backups and test in staging before production deployment

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 $3,200. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-38730 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-38730 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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