Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-38146

Linux Kernel 5.5 – 5.10.239

Published
03 July 2025
Modified
30 July 2026
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.4
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0040 33th percentile
Risk Priority 68 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-38146 is a critical-severity Improper Validation of Array Index (CWE-129) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 9.4 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 33th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: openvswitch: Fix the dead loop of MPLS parse The unexpected MPLS packet may not end with the bottom label stack. When there are many stacks, The label count value…

more

has wrapped around. A dead loop occurs, soft lockup/CPU stuck finally. stack backtrace: UBSAN: array-index-out-of-bounds in /build/linux-0Pa0xK/linux-5.15.0/net/openvswitch/flow.c:662:26 index -1 is out of range for type '__be32 [3]' CPU: 34 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/34 Kdump: loaded Tainted: G OE 5.15.0-121-generic #131-Ubuntu Hardware name: Dell Inc. PowerEdge C6420/0JP9TF, BIOS 2.12.2 07/14/2021 Call Trace: <IRQ> show_stack+0x52/0x5c dump_stack_lvl+0x4a/0x63 dump_stack+0x10/0x16 ubsan_epilogue+0x9/0x36 __ubsan_handle_out_of_bounds.cold+0x44/0x49 key_extract_l3l4+0x82a/0x840 [openvswitch] ? kfree_skbmem+0x52/0xa0 key_extract+0x9c/0x2b0 [openvswitch] ovs_flow_key_extract+0x124/0x350 [openvswitch] ovs_vport_receive+0x61/0xd0 [openvswitch] ? kernel_init_free_pages.part.0+0x4a/0x70 ? get_page_from_freelist+0x353/0x540 netdev_port_receive+0xc4/0x180 [openvswitch] ? netdev_port_receive+0x180/0x180 [openvswitch] netdev_frame_hook+0x1f/0x40 [openvswitch] __netif_receive_skb_core.constprop.0+0x23a/0xf00 __netif_receive_skb_list_core+0xfa/0x240 netif_receive_skb_list_internal+0x18e/0x2a0 napi_complete_done+0x7a/0x1c0 bnxt_poll+0x155/0x1c0 [bnxt_en] __napi_poll+0x30/0x180 net_rx_action+0x126/0x280 ? bnxt_msix+0x67/0x80 [bnxt_en] handle_softirqs+0xda/0x2d0 irq_exit_rcu+0x96/0xc0 common_interrupt+0x8e/0xa0 </IRQ>

CWE(s)
CWE-129

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.
attack.mitre.org →
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.
attack.mitre.org →
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1211 Exploitation for Stealth Stealth
Adversaries may exploit vulnerabilities to evade detection by hiding activity, suppressing logging, or operating within trusted or unmonitored components.
attack.mitre.org →
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-26981Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-38697Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-38198Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2024-26966Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2024-46821Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2023-52812Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2024-46859Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-37752Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2024-46871Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-38239Same product: Debian Debian Linux

Affected Assets

linux
linux kernel
5.5 — 5.10.239 · 5.11 — 5.15.186 · 5.16 — 6.1.142
debian
debian linux
11.0

Mitigating Controls

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
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require input validation and bounds checking that prevent improper array indexing.

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.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development can detect out-of-bounds array access but does not prevent the weakness by itself.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates input validation and bounds checking that directly prevents improper array indexing.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements include validation of untrusted input used for indexing or addressing memory structures.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles encourage defensive coding patterns that reduce index-related vulnerabilities.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly require bounds checking and validation of array indices derived from untrusted data.

References