Vulnerability in Linux kernel (CVE-2025-38523)
Summary
Vulnerability in Linux kernel (CVE-2025-38523). Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
cifs: Fix the smbd_response slab to allow usercopy
The handling of received data in the smbdirect client code involves using
copy_to_iter() to copy data from the smbd_reponse struct's packet trailer
to a folioq buffer provided by netfslib that encapsulates a chunk of
pagecache.
If, however, CONFIG_HARDENED_USERCOPY=y, this will result in the checks
then performed in copy_to_iter() oopsing with something like the following:
CIFS: Attempting to mount //172.31.9.1/test
CIFS: VFS: RDMA transport established
usercopy: Kernel memory exposure attempt detected from SLUB object 'smbd_response_0000000091e24ea1' (offset 81, size 63)!
------------[ cut here ]------------
kernel BUG at mm/usercopy.c:102!
...
RIP: 0010:usercopy_abort+0x6c/0x80
...
Call Trace:
__check_heap_object+0xe3/0x120
__check_object_size+0x4dc/0x6d0
smbd_recv+0x77f/0xfe0 [cifs]
cifs_readv_from_socket+0x276/0x8f0 [cifs]
cifs_read_from_socket+0xcd/0x120 [cifs]
cifs_demultiplex_thread+0x7e9/0x2d50 [cifs]
kthread+0x396/0x830
ret_from_fork+0x2b8/0x3b0
ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30
The problem is that the smbd_response slab's packet field isn't marked as
being permitted for usercopy.
Fix this by passing parameters to kmem_slab_create() to indicate that
copy_to_iter() is permitted from the packet region of the smbd_response
slab objects, less the header space.
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-2025-38523 has been found in Linux kernel.
Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure. CVSS score: 7.5/10.
What to do: apply the vendor's official patched release.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "Linux kernel CVE-2025-38523" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2025-38523 (Linux kernel) — CWE-1188 / CVSS v3 7.5
Attack vector: remote (network-reachable) / unauthenticated / 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-1188) exists in Linux kernel.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of Linux kernel.
Severity: High (CVSS 7.5/10). Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.
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-2025-38523 linux-lts Fixed in: 6.12.41-r0
- Debian DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38523 linux Fixed in: 6.12.37-1
- Ubuntu UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38523 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