Vulnerability in Linux
CVE-2025-38687
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: comedi: fix race between polling and detaching syzbot reports a use-after-free in comedi in the below link, which is due to comedi gladly removing the allocated async area even though poll requests are still active on the wait_queue_head inside of it. This can cause a use-after-free when the poll entries are later triggered or removed, as the memory for the wait_queue_head has been freed. We need to check there are no tasks queued on any of the subdevices' wait queues before allowing the device to be detached by the `COMEDI_DEVCONFIG` ioctl. Tasks will read-lock `dev->attach_lock` before adding themselves to the subdevice wait queue, so fix the problem in the `COMEDI_DEVCONFIG` ioctl handler by write-locking `dev->attach_lock` before checking that all of the subdevices are safe to be deleted. This includes testing for any sleepers on the subdevices' wait queues. It remains locked until the device has been detached. This requires the `comedi_device_detach()` function to be refactored slightly, moving the bulk of it into new function `comedi_device_detach_locked()`. Note that the refactor of `comedi_device_detach()` results in `comedi_device_cancel_all()` now being called while `dev->attach_lock` is write-locked, which wasn't the case previously, but that does not matter. Thanks to Jens Axboe for diagnosing the problem and co-developing this patch.
Vulnerability class: Race Condition
EPSS: 0.001 (1.5th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 7.3 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
Affected products
- Linux — versions 2f3fdcd7ce935f6f2899ceab57dc8fe5286db3e1, 3.14, 0
- Linux Linux_kernel
- Debian Debian_linux — versions 11.0
Weakness classification (CWE)
Public proof-of-concept exploits
References
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 (Third Party Advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2025-38687?
- CVE-2025-38687 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization (Race Condition). CVSS score: 7.3/10. Published 2025-09-04.
- How severe is CVE-2025-38687?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.3 out of 10.
- Is CVE-2025-38687 known to be exploited?
- 1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.