Vulnerability in Linux

CVE-2025-38678

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nf_tables: reject duplicate device on updates A chain/flowtable update with duplicated devices in the same batch is possible. Unfortunately, netdev event path only removes the first device that is found, leaving unregistered the hook of the duplicated device. Check if a duplicated device exists in the transaction batch, bail out with EEXIST in such case. WARNING is hit when unregistering the hook: [49042.221275] WARNING: CPU: 4 PID: 8425 at net/netfilter/core.c:340 nf_hook_entry_head+0xaa/0x150 [49042.221375] CPU: 4 UID: 0 PID: 8425 Comm: nft Tainted: G S 6.16.0+ #170 PREEMPT(full) [...] [49042.221382] RIP: 0010:nf_hook_entry_head+0xaa/0x150

Published · last modified .

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.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.003 (18.6th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 19th percentile — 18.6% 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-2025-38678: held from 0.003 to 0.003.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.003 · newest: 0.003 · change: +0.000

Affected products

  • Linux — versions 78d9f48f7f44431a25da2b46b3a8812f6ff2b981, 5.8, 0
  • Linux Kernel — versions 6.17

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-38678?
CVE-2025-38678 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2025-09-03.
How severe is CVE-2025-38678?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2025-38678 known to be exploited?
1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.