Vulnerability in Linux

CVE-2025-38675

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xfrm: state: initialize state_ptrs earlier in xfrm_state_find In case of preemption, xfrm_state_look_at will find a different pcpu_id and look up states for that other CPU. If we matched a state for CPU2 in the state_cache while the lookup started on CPU1, we will jump to "found", but the "best" state that we got will be ignored and we will enter the "acquire" block. This block uses state_ptrs, which isn't initialized at this point. Let's initialize state_ptrs just after taking rcu_read_lock. This will also prevent a possible misuse in the future, if someone adjusts this function.

Vulnerability class: Race Condition

EPSS: 0.001 (1.4th 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 dd4c2a174994238d55ab54da2545543d36f4e0d0, 6.16, a16871c7832ea6435abb6e0b58289ae7dcb7e4fc
  • Linux Linux_kernel — versions 6.16

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-38675?
CVE-2025-38675 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization (Race Condition). CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2025-08-22.
How severe is CVE-2025-38675?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.