Use After Free in Linux
CVE-2025-38595
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xen: fix UAF in dmabuf_exp_from_pages() [dma_buf_fd() fixes; no preferences regarding the tree it goes through - up to xen folks] As soon as we'd inserted a file reference into descriptor table, another thread could close it. That's fine for the case when all we are doing is returning that descriptor to userland (it's a race, but it's a userland race and there's nothing the kernel can do about it). However, if we follow fd_install() with any kind of access to objects that would be destroyed on close (be it the struct file itself or anything destroyed by its ->release()), we have a UAF. dma_buf_fd() is a combination of reserving a descriptor and fd_install(). gntdev dmabuf_exp_from_pages() calls it and then proceeds to access the objects destroyed on close - starting with gntdev_dmabuf itself. Fix that by doing reserving descriptor before anything else and do fd_install() only when everything had been set up.
Vulnerability class: Use-After-Free
EPSS: 0.002 (7.4th 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
- Linux — versions a240d6e42e28c34fdc34b3a98ca838a31c939901, 4.19, 0
- Linux Linux_kernel
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2025-38595?
- CVE-2025-38595 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under Use After Free. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2025-08-19.
- How severe is CVE-2025-38595?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.