Vulnerability in Linux

CVE-2025-38273

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: tipc: fix refcount warning in tipc_aead_encrypt syzbot reported a refcount warning [1] caused by calling get_net() on a network namespace that is being destroyed (refcount=0). This happens when a TIPC discovery timer fires during network namespace cleanup. The recently added get_net() call in commit e279024617134 ("net/tipc: fix slab-use-after-free Read in tipc_aead_encrypt_done") attempts to hold a reference to the network namespace. However, if the namespace is already being destroyed, its refcount might be zero, leading to the use-after-free warning. Replace get_net() with maybe_get_net(), which safely checks if the refcount is non-zero before incrementing it. If the namespace is being destroyed, return -ENODEV early, after releasing the bearer reference. [1]: https://lore.kernel.org/all/68342b55.a70a0220.253bc2.0091.GAE@google.com/T/#m12019cf9ae77e1954f666914640efa36d52704a2

EPSS: 0.002 (5.8th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Affected products

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-38273?
CVE-2025-38273 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2025-07-10.
How severe is CVE-2025-38273?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2025-38273 known to be exploited?
1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.