Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2025-38490 is a critical-severity Double Free (CWE-415) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203); ranked at the 22th 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-2025-22873
Vulnerability Data
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: libwx: remove duplicate page_pool_put_full_page() page_pool_put_full_page() should only be invoked when freeing Rx buffers or building a skb if the size is too short. At other times, the pages need…
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to be reused. So remove the redundant page put. In the original code, double free pages cause kernel panic: [ 876.949834] __irq_exit_rcu+0xc7/0x130 [ 876.949836] common_interrupt+0xb8/0xd0 [ 876.949838] </IRQ> [ 876.949838] <TASK> [ 876.949840] asm_common_interrupt+0x22/0x40 [ 876.949841] RIP: 0010:cpuidle_enter_state+0xc2/0x420 [ 876.949843] Code: 00 00 e8 d1 1d 5e ff e8 ac f0 ff ff 49 89 c5 0f 1f 44 00 00 31 ff e8 cd fc 5c ff 45 84 ff 0f 85 40 02 00 00 fb 0f 1f 44 00 00 <45> 85 f6 0f 88 84 01 00 00 49 63 d6 48 8d 04 52 48 8d 04 82 49 8d [ 876.949844] RSP: 0018:ffffaa7340267e78 EFLAGS: 00000246 [ 876.949845] RAX: ffff9e3f135be000 RBX: 0000000000000002 RCX: 0000000000000000 [ 876.949846] RDX: 000000cc2dc4cb7c RSI: ffffffff89ee49ae RDI: ffffffff89ef9f9e [ 876.949847] RBP: ffff9e378f940800 R08: 0000000000000002 R09: 00000000000000ed [ 876.949848] R10: 000000000000afc8 R11: ffff9e3e9e5a9b6c R12: ffffffff8a6d8580 [ 876.949849] R13: 000000cc2dc4cb7c R14: 0000000000000002 R15: 0000000000000000 [ 876.949852] ? cpuidle_enter_state+0xb3/0x420 [ 876.949855] cpuidle_enter+0x29/0x40 [ 876.949857] cpuidle_idle_call+0xfd/0x170 [ 876.949859] do_idle+0x7a/0xc0 [ 876.949861] cpu_startup_entry+0x25/0x30 [ 876.949862] start_secondary+0x117/0x140 [ 876.949864] common_startup_64+0x13e/0x148 [ 876.949867] </TASK> [ 876.949868] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- [ 876.949869] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [ 876.949870] list_del corruption, ffffead40445a348->next is NULL [ 876.949873] WARNING: CPU: 14 PID: 0 at lib/list_debug.c:52 __list_del_entry_valid_or_report+0x67/0x120 [ 876.949875] Modules linked in: snd_hrtimer(E) bnep(E) binfmt_misc(E) amdgpu(E) squashfs(E) vfat(E) loop(E) fat(E) amd_atl(E) snd_hda_codec_realtek(E) intel_rapl_msr(E) snd_hda_codec_generic(E) intel_rapl_common(E) snd_hda_scodec_component(E) snd_hda_codec_hdmi(E) snd_hda_intel(E) edac_mce_amd(E) snd_intel_dspcfg(E) snd_hda_codec(E) snd_hda_core(E) amdxcp(E) kvm_amd(E) snd_hwdep(E) gpu_sched(E) drm_panel_backlight_quirks(E) cec(E) snd_pcm(E) drm_buddy(E) snd_seq_dummy(E) drm_ttm_helper(E) btusb(E) kvm(E) snd_seq_oss(E) btrtl(E) ttm(E) btintel(E) snd_seq_midi(E) btbcm(E) drm_exec(E) snd_seq_midi_event(E) i2c_algo_bit(E) snd_rawmidi(E) bluetooth(E) drm_suballoc_helper(E) irqbypass(E) snd_seq(E) ghash_clmulni_intel(E) sha512_ssse3(E) drm_display_helper(E) aesni_intel(E) snd_seq_device(E) rfkill(E) snd_timer(E) gf128mul(E) drm_client_lib(E) drm_kms_helper(E) snd(E) i2c_piix4(E) joydev(E) soundcore(E) wmi_bmof(E) ccp(E) k10temp(E) i2c_smbus(E) gpio_amdpt(E) i2c_designware_platform(E) gpio_generic(E) sg(E) [ 876.949914] i2c_designware_core(E) sch_fq_codel(E) parport_pc(E) drm(E) ppdev(E) lp(E) parport(E) fuse(E) nfnetlink(E) ip_tables(E) ext4 crc16 mbcache jbd2 sd_mod sfp mdio_i2c i2c_core txgbe ahci ngbe pcs_xpcs libahci libwx r8169 phylink libata realtek ptp pps_core video wmi [ 876.949933] CPU: 14 UID: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/14 Kdump: loaded Tainted: G W E 6.16.0-rc2+ #20 PREEMPT(voluntary) [ 876.949935] Tainted: [W]=WARN, [E]=UNSIGNED_MODULE [ 876.949936] Hardware name: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. MS-7E16/X670E GAMING PLUS WIFI (MS-7E16), BIOS 1.90 12/31/2024 [ 876.949936] RIP: 0010:__list_del_entry_valid_or_report+0x67/0x120 [ 876.949938] Code: 00 00 00 48 39 7d 08 0f 85 a6 00 00 00 5b b8 01 00 00 00 5d 41 5c e9 73 0d 93 ff 48 89 fe 48 c7 c7 a0 31 e8 89 e8 59 7c b3 ff <0f> 0b 31 c0 5b 5d 41 5c e9 57 0d 93 ff 48 89 fe 48 c7 c7 c8 31 e8 [ 876.949940] RSP: 0018:ffffaa73405d0c60 EFLAGS: 00010282 [ 876.949941] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffffead40445a348 RCX: 0000000000000000 [ 876.949942] RDX: 0000000000000105 RSI: 00000 ---truncated---
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 1 hardening rule · 1 OS baseline
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Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation explicitly includes dynamic analysis and fuzzing that locate double-free defects before release.
Security engineering principles can require memory-safe allocation patterns or language features that structurally eliminate double-free opportunities.
Flaw remediation processes require identification and correction of memory-management defects such as double free once discovered.
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 prevent double-free errors via static analysis, safe memory APIs, and testing.
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 double-free conditions before release.
Secure development life cycle includes memory-safety practices that can prevent double-free bugs.
Application security requirements can mandate memory-safety rules that reduce double-free risk.
Secure system architecture and engineering principles can prescribe safe memory-management patterns.
Secure coding standards directly address proper use of free() and similar functions.
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-248590 OL 8 must clear the page allocator to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-415