Vulnerability in Linux kernel (CVE-2025-38475)
Summary
Vulnerability in Linux kernel (CVE-2025-38475). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
smc: Fix various oops due to inet_sock type confusion.
syzbot reported weird splats [0][1] in cipso_v4_sock_setattr() while
freeing inet_sk(sk)->inet_opt.
The address was freed multiple times even though it was read-only memory.
cipso_v4_sock_setattr() did nothing wrong, and the root cause was type
confusion.
The cited commit made it possible to create smc_sock as an INET socket.
The issue is that struct smc_sock does not have struct inet_sock as the
first member but hijacks AF_INET and AF_INET6 sk_family, which confuses
various places.
In this case, inet_sock.inet_opt was actually smc_sock.clcsk_data_ready(),
which is an address of a function in the text segment.
$ pahole -C inet_sock vmlinux
struct inet_sock {
...
struct ip_options_rcu * inet_opt; /* 784 8 */
$ pahole -C smc_sock vmlinux
struct smc_sock {
...
void (*clcsk_data_ready)(struct sock ); / 784 8 */
The same issue for another field was reported before. [2][3]
At that time, an ugly hack was suggested [4], but it makes both INET
and SMC code error-prone and hard to change.
Also, yet another variant was fixed by a hacky commit 98d4435efcbf3
("net/smc: prevent NULL pointer dereference in txopt_get").
Instead of papering over the root cause by such hacks, we should not
allow non-INET socket to reuse the INET infra.
Let's add inet_sock as the first member of…
Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database NVD
Auto-generated summary
Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.
A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2025-38475 has been found in Linux kernel.
Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. CVSS score: 7.8/10.
What to do: apply the vendor's official patched release.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "Linux kernel CVE-2025-38475" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2025-38475 (Linux kernel) — CWE-476 / CVSS v3 7.8
Attack vector: local / no user interaction
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.
A vulnerability (CWE-476) exists in Linux kernel.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of Linux kernel.
Severity: High (CVSS 7.8/10). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.
Update to the patched release per vendor advisory.
Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.
Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Audit SBOM/dependencies to find affected services.
Response actions
Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order
-
1Identify exposure identify
Audit SBOM/dependencies for affected components.資産台帳・SBOM・依存マニフェストで Linux kernel を使っているサービスとバージョンを洗い出す。
-
2Post-deployment verification verify
Confirm patched version is live in productionパッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。
Affected packages
Fix status by distribution
Fixed packages published by each distribution for this CVE
- BellSoft Alpaquita BELL-CVE-2025-38475 linux-lts Fixed in: 6.12.41-r0
- Debian DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38475 linux Fixed in: 6.12.41-1
- Ubuntu UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38475 linux-hwe-edge
References
- advisory github.com
- advisory nvd.nist.gov
- package git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org