CVE-2025-38154 | bpf, sockmap: Avoid using sk_socket after free when sending

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf, sockmap: Avoid using sk_socket after free when sending The sk->sk_socket is not locked or referenced in backlog thread, and during the call to skb_send_sock(), there is a race condition with the release of sk_socket. All types of sockets(tcp/udp/unix/vsock) will be affected. Race conditions: ''' CPU0 CPU1 backlog::skb_send_sock sendmsg_unlocked sock_sendmsg sock_sendmsg_nosec close(fd): ... ops->release() -> sock_map_close() sk_socket->ops = NULL free(socket) sock->ops->sendmsg ^ panic here ''' The ref of psock become 0 after sock_map_close() executed. ''' void sock_map_close() { ... if (likely(psock)) { ... // !! here we remove psock and the ref of psock become 0 sock_map_remove_links(sk, psock) psock = sk_psock_get(sk); if (unlikely(!psock)) goto no_psock; <=== Control jumps here via goto ... cancel_delayed_work_sync(&psock->work); <=== not executed sk_psock_put(sk, psock); ... } ''' Based on the fact that we already wait for the workqueue to finish in sock_map_close() if psock is held, we simply increase the psock reference count to avoid race conditions. With this patch, if the backlog thread is running, sock_map_close() will wait for the backlog thread to complete and cancel all pending work. If no backlog running, any pending work that hasn't started by then will fail when invoked by sk_psock_get(), as the psock reference count have been zeroed, and sk_psock_drop() will cancel all jobs via cancel_delayed_work_sync(). In summary, we require synchronization to coordinate the backlog thread and close() thread. The panic I catched: ''' Workqueue: events sk_psock_backlog RIP: 0010:sock_sendmsg+0x21d/0x440 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffffc9000521fad8 RCX: 0000000000000001 ... Call Trace: <TASK> ? die_addr+0x40/0xa0 ? exc_general_protection+0x14c/0x230 ? asm_exc_general_protection+0x26/0x30 ? sock_sendmsg+0x21d/0x440 ? sock_sendmsg+0x3e0/0x440 ? __pfx_sock_sendmsg+0x10/0x10 __skb_send_sock+0x543/0xb70 sk_psock_backlog+0x247/0xb80 ... '''

Published: 2025-07-03 Last update: 2025-12-18 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-38154 is rated Low Risk (38.7/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.07%). 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-2025-38154

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% 0.07% +0.05%
2 2025-12-19 0.06% 0.02% -0.04%
3 2025-12-11 0.06%

Full EPSS history (8 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-38154

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-2025-38154

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-38154

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2025-38154 unimportant 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-2025-38154
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38154
suse medium CVE-2025-38154 severity moderate: SUSE including 480 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, …), 1044 product×package rows across 210 product lines (Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/base-os-container, Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/kvm-os-container, … (210 product lines)): Fixed 633, Known Affected 231, Known Not Affected 159, First Fixed 21. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38154/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-38154 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-2025-38154

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38154

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 5.15.162, < 5.15.186 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.1.95, < 6.1.142 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.6.35, < 6.6.94 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.9.6, < 6.10 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.10.1, < 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:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.10 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.10:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.10 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.10:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.10 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.10:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.10 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.10:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.10 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.10:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.10 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.10:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.10 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.10:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-38154

cvelogic Threat Intelligence