Use After Free in Linux
CVE-2025-39854
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ice: fix NULL access of tx->in_use in ice_ll_ts_intr Recent versions of the E810 firmware have support for an extra interrupt to handle report of the "low latency" Tx timestamps coming from the specialized low latency firmware interface. Instead of polling the registers, software can wait until the low latency interrupt is fired. This logic makes use of the Tx timestamp tracking structure, ice_ptp_tx, as it uses the same "ready" bitmap to track which Tx timestamps complete. Unfortunately, the ice_ll_ts_intr() function does not check if the tracker is initialized before its first access. This results in NULL dereference or use-after-free bugs similar to the issues fixed in the ice_ptp_ts_irq() function. Fix this by only checking the in_use bitmap (and other fields) if the tracker is marked as initialized. The reset flow will clear the init field under lock before it tears the tracker down, thus preventing any use-after-free or NULL access.
Vulnerability class: Use-After-Free
EPSS: 0.001 (3.9th 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 82e71b226e0ef770d7bc143701c8b4960b4eb3d5, 6.8, 0
- Linux Linux_kernel — versions 6.17
Weakness classification (CWE)
Public proof-of-concept exploits
References
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2025-39854?
- CVE-2025-39854 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under Use After Free. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2025-09-19.
- How severe is CVE-2025-39854?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.
- Is CVE-2025-39854 known to be exploited?
- 1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.