CVE-2025-38100 | x86/iopl: Cure TIF_IO_BITMAP inconsistencies

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: x86/iopl: Cure TIF_IO_BITMAP inconsistencies io_bitmap_exit() is invoked from exit_thread() when a task exists or when a fork fails. In the latter case the exit_thread() cleans up resources which were allocated during fork(). io_bitmap_exit() invokes task_update_io_bitmap(), which in turn ends up in tss_update_io_bitmap(). tss_update_io_bitmap() operates on the current task. If current has TIF_IO_BITMAP set, but no bitmap installed, tss_update_io_bitmap() crashes with a NULL pointer dereference. There are two issues, which lead to that problem: 1) io_bitmap_exit() should not invoke task_update_io_bitmap() when the task, which is cleaned up, is not the current task. That's a clear indicator for a cleanup after a failed fork(). 2) A task should not have TIF_IO_BITMAP set and neither a bitmap installed nor IOPL emulation level 3 activated. This happens when a kernel thread is created in the context of a user space thread, which has TIF_IO_BITMAP set as the thread flags are copied and the IO bitmap pointer is cleared. Other than in the failed fork() case this has no impact because kernel threads including IO workers never return to user space and therefore never invoke tss_update_io_bitmap(). Cure this by adding the missing cleanups and checks: 1) Prevent io_bitmap_exit() to invoke task_update_io_bitmap() if the to be cleaned up task is not the current task. 2) Clear TIF_IO_BITMAP in copy_thread() unconditionally. For user space forks it is set later, when the IO bitmap is inherited in io_bitmap_share(). For paranoia sake, add a warning into tss_update_io_bitmap() to catch the case, when that code is invoked with inconsistent state.

Published: 2025-07-03 Last update: 2026-05-12 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-38100 is rated Low Risk (31.9/100): 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.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2025-38100

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 0.03% 0.10% +0.08%
2 2025-12-17 0.05% 0.03% -0.03%
3 2025-10-17 0.05%

Full EPSS history (4 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-38100

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-2025-38100

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2025-38100

GHSA-hhj3-j6pg-f7mv · Severity: medium — In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: x86/iopl: Cure TIF_IO_BITMAP...

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-38100

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2025-38100 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-2025-38100
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38100
suse medium CVE-2025-38100 severity moderate: SUSE including 432 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, …), 802 product×package rows across 167 product lines (Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/base-os-container, Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/kvm-os-container, … (167 product lines)): Fixed 476, Known Affected 231, Known Not Affected 95. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38100/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-38100 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, released 169, ignored 164, not-affected 67, needed 3, needs-triage 2, pending 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-38100

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38100

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 5.5, < 5.10.239 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.186 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.1.142 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.94 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.34 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.15.3 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-38100

URL Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2cfcbe1554c119402e7382de974c26b0549899fe Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2dace5e016c991424a3dc6e83b1ae5dca8992d08 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/73cfcc8445585b8af7e18be3c9246b851fdf336c Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8b68e978718f14fdcb080c2a7791c52a0d09bc6d Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/aa5ce1485562f20235b4c759eee5ab0c41d2c220 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b3b3b6366dc8eb5b22edba9adc4bff3cdacfd64c Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d64b7b05a827f98d068f412969eef65489b0cf03 Patch
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00007.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-082556.html
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