Security Resilience

CVE-2025-38141

Memory Safety in Linux Kernel 6.10 – 6.12.34

Published
03 July 2025
Modified
30 July 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0019 8th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2025-38141 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 8th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dm: fix dm_blk_report_zones If dm_get_live_table() returned NULL, dm_put_live_table() was never called. Also, it is possible that md->zone_revalidate_map will change while calling this function. Only read it once, so that we…

more

are always using the same value. Otherwise we might miss a call to dm_put_live_table(). Finally, while md->zone_revalidate_map is set and a process is calling blk_revalidate_disk_zones() to set up the zone append emulation resources, it is possible that another process, perhaps triggered by blkdev_report_zones_ioctl(), will call dm_blk_report_zones(). If blk_revalidate_disk_zones() fails, these resources can be freed while the other process is still using them, causing a use-after-free error. blk_revalidate_disk_zones() will only ever be called when initially setting up the zone append emulation resources, such as when setting up a zoned dm-crypt table for the first time. Further table swaps will not set md->zone_revalidate_map or call blk_revalidate_disk_zones(). However it must be called using the new table (referenced by md->zone_revalidate_map) and the new queue limits while the DM device is suspended. dm_blk_report_zones() needs some way to distinguish between a call from blk_revalidate_disk_zones(), which must be allowed to use md->zone_revalidate_map to access this not yet activated table, and all other calls to dm_blk_report_zones(), which should not be allowed while the device is suspended and cannot use md->zone_revalidate_map, since the zone resources might be freed by the process currently calling blk_revalidate_disk_zones(). Solve this by tracking the process that sets md->zone_revalidate_map in dm_revalidate_zones() and only allowing that process to make use of it in dm_blk_report_zones().

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-31587Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2023-53559Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2024-21803Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-23077Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-53112Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2025-38620Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-53117Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2024-47691Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2023-52803Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2024-56581Same product: Linux Linux Kernel

Affected Assets

linux
linux kernel
6.10 — 6.12.34 · 6.13 — 6.15.3

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.3

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation can discover use-after-free bugs through dynamic analysis or fuzzing.

Engineering principles can require memory-safe constructs or languages that structurally avoid introducing use-after-free.

Process isolation confines the blast radius of use-after-free memory corruption to a single execution domain.

Memory protection controls limit exploitation impact by blocking unauthorized code execution from dangling pointers.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
blocks

Secure SDLC practices directly incorporate memory-safety tooling and reviews that prevent most use-after-free defects.

ID.RA-01 partial match
blocks

Vulnerability identification processes can discover use-after-free issues via scanning or analysis but do not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
blocks

Routine patching removes known use-after-free instances after they have been introduced in released software.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing in development can detect use-after-free bugs before release.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe avoidance of use-after-free patterns.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (higher-evidence rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
  • V-248592 OL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. blocks CWE-416
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
  • V-230279 RHEL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. blocks CWE-416
RHEL 9 (1 rule)
  • V-257794 RHEL 9 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. blocks CWE-416

References