Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2025-38236 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 Client Execution (T1203); ranked at the 16th 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
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-20419
Vulnerability Data
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: af_unix: Don't leave consecutive consumed OOB skbs. Jann Horn reported a use-after-free in unix_stream_read_generic(). The following sequences reproduce the issue: $ python3 from socket import * s1, s2 = socketpair(AF_UNIX,…
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SOCK_STREAM) s1.send(b'x', MSG_OOB) s2.recv(1, MSG_OOB) # leave a consumed OOB skb s1.send(b'y', MSG_OOB) s2.recv(1, MSG_OOB) # leave a consumed OOB skb s1.send(b'z', MSG_OOB) s2.recv(1) # recv 'z' illegally s2.recv(1, MSG_OOB) # access 'z' skb (use-after-free) Even though a user reads OOB data, the skb holding the data stays on the recv queue to mark the OOB boundary and break the next recv(). After the last send() in the scenario above, the sk2's recv queue has 2 leading consumed OOB skbs and 1 real OOB skb. Then, the following happens during the next recv() without MSG_OOB 1. unix_stream_read_generic() peeks the first consumed OOB skb 2. manage_oob() returns the next consumed OOB skb 3. unix_stream_read_generic() fetches the next not-yet-consumed OOB skb 4. unix_stream_read_generic() reads and frees the OOB skb , and the last recv(MSG_OOB) triggers KASAN splat. The 3. above occurs because of the SO_PEEK_OFF code, which does not expect unix_skb_len(skb) to be 0, but this is true for such consumed OOB skbs. while (skip >= unix_skb_len(skb)) { skip -= unix_skb_len(skb); skb = skb_peek_next(skb, &sk->sk_receive_queue); ... } In addition to this use-after-free, there is another issue that ioctl(SIOCATMARK) does not function properly with consecutive consumed OOB skbs. So, nothing good comes out of such a situation. Instead of complicating manage_oob(), ioctl() handling, and the next ECONNRESET fix by introducing a loop for consecutive consumed OOB skbs, let's not leave such consecutive OOB unnecessarily. Now, while receiving an OOB skb in unix_stream_recv_urg(), if its previous skb is a consumed OOB skb, it is freed. [0]: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in unix_stream_read_actor (net/unix/af_unix.c:3027) Read of size 4 at addr ffff888106ef2904 by task python3/315 CPU: 2 UID: 0 PID: 315 Comm: python3 Not tainted 6.16.0-rc1-00407-gec315832f6f9 #8 PREEMPT(voluntary) Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-4.fc42 04/01/2014 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl (lib/dump_stack.c:122) print_report (mm/kasan/report.c:409 mm/kasan/report.c:521) kasan_report (mm/kasan/report.c:636) unix_stream_read_actor (net/unix/af_unix.c:3027) unix_stream_read_generic (net/unix/af_unix.c:2708 net/unix/af_unix.c:2847) unix_stream_recvmsg (net/unix/af_unix.c:3048) sock_recvmsg (net/socket.c:1063 (discriminator 20) net/socket.c:1085 (discriminator 20)) __sys_recvfrom (net/socket.c:2278) __x64_sys_recvfrom (net/socket.c:2291 (discriminator 1) net/socket.c:2287 (discriminator 1) net/socket.c:2287 (discriminator 1)) do_syscall_64 (arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 (discriminator 1) arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94 (discriminator 1)) entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:130) RIP: 0033:0x7f8911fcea06 Code: 5d e8 41 8b 93 08 03 00 00 59 5e 48 83 f8 fc 75 19 83 e2 39 83 fa 08 75 11 e8 26 ff ff ff 66 0f 1f 44 00 00 48 8b 45 10 0f 05 <48> 8b 5d f8 c9 c3 0f 1f 40 00 f3 0f 1e fa 55 48 89 e5 48 83 ec 08 RSP: 002b:00007fffdb0dccb0 EFLAGS: 00000202 ORIG_RAX: 000000000000002d RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007fffdb0dcdc8 RCX: 00007f8911fcea06 RDX: 0000000000000001 RSI: 00007f8911a5e060 RDI: 0000000000000006 RBP: 00007fffdb0dccd0 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000001 R11: 0000000000000202 R12: 00007f89119a7d20 R13: ffffffffc4653600 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 0000000000000000 </TASK> Allocated by task 315: kasan_save_stack (mm/kasan/common.c:48) kasan_save_track (mm/kasan/common.c:60 (discriminator 1) mm/kasan/common.c:69 (discriminator 1)) __kasan_slab_alloc (mm/kasan/common.c:348) kmem_cache_alloc_ ---truncated---
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
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.
Secure SDLC practices directly incorporate memory-safety tooling and reviews that prevent most use-after-free defects.
Vulnerability identification processes can discover use-after-free issues via scanning or analysis but do not prevent their introduction.
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.
Security testing in development can detect use-after-free bugs before release.
Secure SDLC mandates memory-safety practices that reduce use-after-free defects.
Application security requirements can specify memory-management rules that mitigate use-after-free.
Secure architecture principles include memory-safety design choices that limit use-after-free exposure.
Secure coding standards directly prescribe avoidance of use-after-free patterns.
Change-management processes help ensure memory-safety fixes are deployed consistently.
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` (authoritative 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. prevents CWE-416
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
- V-230279 RHEL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416
RHEL 9 (1 rule)
- V-257794 RHEL 9 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416