CVE-2025-38193 | net_sched: sch_sfq: reject invalid perturb period

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net_sched: sch_sfq: reject invalid perturb period Gerrard Tai reported that SFQ perturb_period has no range check yet, and this can be used to trigger a race condition fixed in a separate patch. We want to make sure ctl->perturb_period * HZ will not overflow and is positive. tc qd add dev lo root sfq perturb -10 # negative value : error Error: sch_sfq: invalid perturb period. tc qd add dev lo root sfq perturb 1000000000 # too big : error Error: sch_sfq: invalid perturb period. tc qd add dev lo root sfq perturb 2000000 # acceptable value tc -s -d qd sh dev lo qdisc sfq 8005: root refcnt 2 limit 127p quantum 64Kb depth 127 flows 128 divisor 1024 perturb 2000000sec Sent 0 bytes 0 pkt (dropped 0, overlimits 0 requeues 0) backlog 0b 0p requeues 0

Published: 2025-07-04 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-38193 is rated Low Risk (24.1/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.16%). 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-2025-38193

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 0.05% 0.16% +0.11%
2 2026-04-30 0.02% 0.05% +0.03%
3 2025-12-19 0.02%

Full EPSS history (7 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-38193

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-2025-38193

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-38193

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2025-38193 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-2025-38193
redhat low https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38193
suse medium CVE-2025-38193 severity moderate: SUSE including 485 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, …), 979 product×package rows across 196 product lines (Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/base-os-container, Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/kvm-os-container, … (196 product lines)): Fixed 704, Known Affected 231, Known Not Affected 23, First Fixed 21. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38193/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-38193 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 170, ignored 169, needed 44, not-affected 20, needs-triage 2, pending 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-38193

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38193

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 2.6.13, < 5.4.297 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.5, < 5.10.240 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, < 6.6.95 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.35 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.15.4 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 2.6.12 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.12:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 2.6.12 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.12:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 2.6.12 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.12:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 2.6.12 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.12:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 2.6.12 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.12:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.16 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-38193

URL Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0357da9149eac621f39e235a135ebf155f01f7c3 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2254d038dab9c194fe6a4b1ce31034f42e91a6e5 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/590b2d7d0beadba2aa576708a05a05f0aae39295 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7ca52541c05c832d32b112274f81a985101f9ba8 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/956b5aebb349449b38d920d444ca1392d43719d1 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b11a50544af691b787384089b68f740ae20a441b Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e0936ff56be4e08ad5b60ec26971eae0c40af305 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f9b97d466e6026ccbdda30bb5b71965b67ccbc82 Patch
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00007.html Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html Third Party Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence