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-2025-38323 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 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
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-20923
Vulnerability Data
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: atm: add lec_mutex syzbot found its way in net/atm/lec.c, and found an error path in lecd_attach() could leave a dangling pointer in dev_lec[]. Add a mutex to protect dev_lecp[]…
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uses from lecd_attach(), lec_vcc_attach() and lec_mcast_attach(). Following patch will use this mutex for /proc/net/atm/lec. BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in lecd_attach net/atm/lec.c:751 [inline] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in lane_ioctl+0x2224/0x23e0 net/atm/lec.c:1008 Read of size 8 at addr ffff88807c7b8e68 by task syz.1.17/6142 CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 6142 Comm: syz.1.17 Not tainted 6.16.0-rc1-syzkaller-00239-g08215f5486ec #0 PREEMPT(full) Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 05/07/2025 Call Trace: <TASK> __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:94 [inline] dump_stack_lvl+0x116/0x1f0 lib/dump_stack.c:120 print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:408 [inline] print_report+0xcd/0x680 mm/kasan/report.c:521 kasan_report+0xe0/0x110 mm/kasan/report.c:634 lecd_attach net/atm/lec.c:751 [inline] lane_ioctl+0x2224/0x23e0 net/atm/lec.c:1008 do_vcc_ioctl+0x12c/0x930 net/atm/ioctl.c:159 sock_do_ioctl+0x118/0x280 net/socket.c:1190 sock_ioctl+0x227/0x6b0 net/socket.c:1311 vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline] __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:907 [inline] __se_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:893 [inline] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x18e/0x210 fs/ioctl.c:893 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xcd/0x4c0 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f </TASK> Allocated by task 6132: kasan_save_stack+0x33/0x60 mm/kasan/common.c:47 kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 mm/kasan/common.c:68 poison_kmalloc_redzone mm/kasan/common.c:377 [inline] __kasan_kmalloc+0xaa/0xb0 mm/kasan/common.c:394 kasan_kmalloc include/linux/kasan.h:260 [inline] __do_kmalloc_node mm/slub.c:4328 [inline] __kvmalloc_node_noprof+0x27b/0x620 mm/slub.c:5015 alloc_netdev_mqs+0xd2/0x1570 net/core/dev.c:11711 lecd_attach net/atm/lec.c:737 [inline] lane_ioctl+0x17db/0x23e0 net/atm/lec.c:1008 do_vcc_ioctl+0x12c/0x930 net/atm/ioctl.c:159 sock_do_ioctl+0x118/0x280 net/socket.c:1190 sock_ioctl+0x227/0x6b0 net/socket.c:1311 vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline] __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:907 [inline] __se_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:893 [inline] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x18e/0x210 fs/ioctl.c:893 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xcd/0x4c0 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f Freed by task 6132: kasan_save_stack+0x33/0x60 mm/kasan/common.c:47 kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 mm/kasan/common.c:68 kasan_save_free_info+0x3b/0x60 mm/kasan/generic.c:576 poison_slab_object mm/kasan/common.c:247 [inline] __kasan_slab_free+0x51/0x70 mm/kasan/common.c:264 kasan_slab_free include/linux/kasan.h:233 [inline] slab_free_hook mm/slub.c:2381 [inline] slab_free mm/slub.c:4643 [inline] kfree+0x2b4/0x4d0 mm/slub.c:4842 free_netdev+0x6c5/0x910 net/core/dev.c:11892 lecd_attach net/atm/lec.c:744 [inline] lane_ioctl+0x1ce8/0x23e0 net/atm/lec.c:1008 do_vcc_ioctl+0x12c/0x930 net/atm/ioctl.c:159 sock_do_ioctl+0x118/0x280 net/socket.c:1190 sock_ioctl+0x227/0x6b0 net/socket.c:1311 vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline] __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:907 [inline] __se_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:893 [inline] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x18e/0x210 fs/ioctl.c:893
- 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