Use After Free in Linux

CVE-2025-37778

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ksmbd: Fix dangling pointer in krb_authenticate krb_authenticate frees sess->user and does not set the pointer to NULL. It calls ksmbd_krb5_authenticate to reinitialise sess->user but that function may return without doing so. If that happens then smb2_sess_setup, which calls krb_authenticate, will be accessing free'd memory when it later uses sess->user.

Vulnerability class: Use-After-Free

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 9.8 (Critical). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.011 (65.5th percentile), scored .

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 66th percentile — 65.5% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2025-37778: held from 0.011 to 0.011.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.011 · newest: 0.011 · change: +0.000

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-37778?
CVE-2025-37778 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under Use After Free. CVSS score: 9.8/10. Published 2025-05-01.
How severe is CVE-2025-37778?
Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2025-37778 known to be exploited?
3 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.