CVE-2025-38076 | alloc_tag: allocate percpu counters for module tags dynamically

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: alloc_tag: allocate percpu counters for module tags dynamically When a module gets unloaded it checks whether any of its tags are still in use and if so, we keep the memory containing module's allocation tags alive until all tags are unused. However percpu counters referenced by the tags are freed by free_module(). This will lead to UAF if the memory allocated by a module is accessed after module was unloaded. To fix this we allocate percpu counters for module allocation tags dynamically and we keep it alive for tags which are still in use after module unloading. This also removes the requirement of a larger PERCPU_MODULE_RESERVE when memory allocation profiling is enabled because percpu memory for counters does not need to be reserved anymore.

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

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-38076 is rated Low Risk (33/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.15%). 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-2025-38076

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 0.08% 0.15% +0.07%
2 2026-04-14 0.02% 0.08% +0.06%
3 2025-06-18 0.02%

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-38076

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-38076

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-38076

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2025-38076 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-38076
redhat https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38076
suse medium CVE-2025-38076 severity moderate: SUSE including 26 source package names (cluster-md-kmp-default, dlm-kmp-default, …), 266 product×package rows across 52 product lines (SLES-LTSS-TERADATA 15 SP2, SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7, … (52 product lines)): Known Not Affected 266. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38076/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-38076 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, not-affected 150, ignored 148, released 106, needs-triage 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-38076

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38076

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.14.9 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:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.15 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-38076

cvelogic Threat Intelligence