CVE-2025-38023 | nfs: handle failure of nfs_get_lock_context in unlock path

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nfs: handle failure of nfs_get_lock_context in unlock path When memory is insufficient, the allocation of nfs_lock_context in nfs_get_lock_context() fails and returns -ENOMEM. If we mistakenly treat an nfs4_unlockdata structure (whose l_ctx member has been set to -ENOMEM) as valid and proceed to execute rpc_run_task(), this will trigger a NULL pointer dereference in nfs4_locku_prepare. For example: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 000000000000000c PGD 0 P4D 0 Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP PTI CPU: 15 UID: 0 PID: 12 Comm: kworker/u64:0 Not tainted 6.15.0-rc2-dirty #60 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-2.fc40 Workqueue: rpciod rpc_async_schedule RIP: 0010:nfs4_locku_prepare+0x35/0xc2 Code: 89 f2 48 89 fd 48 c7 c7 68 69 ef b5 53 48 8b 8e 90 00 00 00 48 89 f3 RSP: 0018:ffffbbafc006bdb8 EFLAGS: 00010246 RAX: 000000000000004b RBX: ffff9b964fc1fa00 RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: fffffffffffffff4 RDI: ffff9ba53fddbf40 RBP: ffff9ba539934000 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: ffffbbafc006bc38 R10: ffffffffb6b689c8 R11: 0000000000000003 R12: ffff9ba539934030 R13: 0000000000000001 R14: 0000000004248060 R15: ffffffffb56d1c30 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff9ba5881f0000(0000) knlGS:00000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 000000000000000c CR3: 000000093f244000 CR4: 00000000000006f0 Call Trace: <TASK> __rpc_execute+0xbc/0x480 rpc_async_schedule+0x2f/0x40 process_one_work+0x232/0x5d0 worker_thread+0x1da/0x3d0 ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 kthread+0x10d/0x240 ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 ret_from_fork+0x34/0x50 ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 </TASK> Modules linked in: CR2: 000000000000000c ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- Free the allocated nfs4_unlockdata when nfs_get_lock_context() fails and return NULL to terminate subsequent rpc_run_task, preventing NULL pointer dereference.

Published: 2025-06-18 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-38023 is rated Low Risk (24.4/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.17%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2025-38023

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.10% 0.17% +0.07%
2 2026-04-14 0.03% 0.10% +0.08%
3 2025-12-18 0.03%

Full EPSS history (5 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-38023

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-38023

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-38023

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2025-38023 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 2 source packages (linux, linux-6.1), 6 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 6. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-38023
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38023
suse medium https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38023/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-38023 medium priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1551 status rows across 10 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1145, ignored 168, released 168, needed 45, not-affected 22, needs-triage 2, pending 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-38023

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38023

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 4.12, < 5.4.294 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.5, < 5.10.238 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.184 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.1.140 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.92 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.30 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.14.8 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.15 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.15 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.15 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.15 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.15 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.15 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-38023

URL Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4c189fd40a09a03f9a900bedb2d9064f1734d72a Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/72f552e00c50f265896d3c19edc6696aa2910081 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/85fb7f8ca5f8c138579fdfc9b97b3083e6077d40 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a6879a076b98c99c9fe747816fe1c29543442441 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c457dc1ec770a22636b473ce5d35614adfe97636 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/da824f1271633bcb515ca8084cda3eda4b3ace51 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/db6f5ee1fc8f54d079d0751292c2fc2d78e3aad1 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f601960af04d2ecb007c928ba153d34051acd9c1 Patch
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/08/msg00010.html Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00007.html Third Party Advisory
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