In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: espintcp: remove encap socket caching to avoid reference leak The current scheme for caching the encap socket can lead to reference leaks when we try to delete the netns. The reference chain is: xfrm_state -> enacp_sk -> netns Since the encap socket is a userspace socket, it holds a reference on the netns. If we delete the espintcp state (through flush or individual delete) before removing the netns, the reference on the socket is dropped and the netns is correctly deleted. Otherwise, the netns may not be reachable anymore (if all processes within the ns have terminated), so we cannot delete the xfrm state to drop its reference on the socket. This patch results in a small (~2% in my tests) performance regression. A GC-type mechanism could be added for the socket cache, to clear references if the state hasn't been used "recently", but it's a lot more complex than just not caching the socket.
Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-38097 is rated Low Risk (31.7/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.10%). 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.
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 | 2026-04-29 | 0.02% | 0.10% | +0.08% |
| 2 | 2025-12-17 | 0.06% | 0.02% | -0.04% |
| 3 | 2025-12-11 | — | 0.06% | — |
Full EPSS history (8 records total)
CVSS metrics for this CVE.
| Base score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability | Impact | Score source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.5 | 3.1 | MEDIUM |
|
1.8 | 3.6 | [email protected] |
| vendor | priority | summary | link |
|---|---|---|---|
debian
|
not yet assigned | CVE-2025-38097 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 5, open 1. | https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-38097 |
redhat
|
low | — | https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38097 |
suse
|
medium | CVE-2025-38097 severity moderate: SUSE including 428 source package names (2.1.3-6.67:kernel-default-base-6.4.0-32.1.21.10, 2.1.3-7.44:kernel-default-6.4.0-32.1, …), 771 product×package rows across 161 product lines (Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/base-os-container, Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/kvm-os-container, … (161 product lines)): Fixed 476, Known Affected 231, Known Not Affected 64. | https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38097/ |
ubuntu
|
medium | CVE-2025-38097 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 164, released 137, not-affected 67, needed 35, needs-triage 2, pending 1. | https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-38097 |
| Vendor | Product | Version | Raw CPE |
|---|---|---|---|
| linux | linux_kernel | >= 5.6, < 6.1.141 | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| linux | linux_kernel | >= 6.2, < 6.6.93 | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| linux | linux_kernel | >= 6.7, < 6.12.31 | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| 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:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| debian | debian_linux | 11.0 | cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |