CVE-2025-38196 | io_uring/rsrc: validate buffer count with offset for cloning

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: io_uring/rsrc: validate buffer count with offset for cloning syzbot reports that it can trigger a WARN_ON() for kmalloc() attempt that's too big: WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 6488 at mm/slub.c:5024 __kvmalloc_node_noprof+0x520/0x640 mm/slub.c:5024 Modules linked in: CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 6488 Comm: syz-executor312 Not tainted 6.15.0-rc7-syzkaller-gd7fa1af5b33e #0 PREEMPT Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 05/07/2025 pstate: 20400005 (nzCv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) pc : __kvmalloc_node_noprof+0x520/0x640 mm/slub.c:5024 lr : __do_kmalloc_node mm/slub.c:-1 [inline] lr : __kvmalloc_node_noprof+0x3b4/0x640 mm/slub.c:5012 sp : ffff80009cfd7a90 x29: ffff80009cfd7ac0 x28: ffff0000dd52a120 x27: 0000000000412dc0 x26: 0000000000000178 x25: ffff7000139faf70 x24: 0000000000000000 x23: ffff800082f4cea8 x22: 00000000ffffffff x21: 000000010cd004a8 x20: ffff0000d75816c0 x19: ffff0000dd52a000 x18: 00000000ffffffff x17: ffff800092f39000 x16: ffff80008adbe9e4 x15: 0000000000000005 x14: 1ffff000139faf1c x13: 0000000000000000 x12: 0000000000000000 x11: ffff7000139faf21 x10: 0000000000000003 x9 : ffff80008f27b938 x8 : 0000000000000002 x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 : 0000000000000000 x5 : 00000000ffffffff x4 : 0000000000400dc0 x3 : 0000000200000000 x2 : 000000010cd004a8 x1 : ffff80008b3ebc40 x0 : 0000000000000001 Call trace: __kvmalloc_node_noprof+0x520/0x640 mm/slub.c:5024 (P) kvmalloc_array_node_noprof include/linux/slab.h:1065 [inline] io_rsrc_data_alloc io_uring/rsrc.c:206 [inline] io_clone_buffers io_uring/rsrc.c:1178 [inline] io_register_clone_buffers+0x484/0xa14 io_uring/rsrc.c:1287 __io_uring_register io_uring/register.c:815 [inline] __do_sys_io_uring_register io_uring/register.c:926 [inline] __se_sys_io_uring_register io_uring/register.c:903 [inline] __arm64_sys_io_uring_register+0x42c/0xea8 io_uring/register.c:903 __invoke_syscall arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:35 [inline] invoke_syscall+0x98/0x2b8 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:49 el0_svc_common+0x130/0x23c arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:132 do_el0_svc+0x48/0x58 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:151 el0_svc+0x58/0x17c arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:767 el0t_64_sync_handler+0x78/0x108 arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:786 el0t_64_sync+0x198/0x19c arch/arm64/kernel/entry.S:600 which is due to offset + buffer_count being too large. The registration code checks only the total count of buffers, but given that the indexing is an array, it should also check offset + count. That can't exceed IORING_MAX_REG_BUFFERS either, as there's no way to reach buffers beyond that limit. There's no issue with registrering a table this large, outside of the fact that it's pointless to register buffers that cannot be reached, and that it can trigger this kmalloc() warning for attempting an allocation that is too large.

Published: 2025-07-04 Last update: 2025-11-18 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-38196 is rated Low Risk (29.8/100): CVSS Medium 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-2025-38196

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 2026-04-30 0.02% 0.07% +0.06%
2 2025-07-05 0.02%

Full EPSS history (2 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-38196

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-2025-38196

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-38196

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2025-38196 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-2025-38196
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38196
suse medium CVE-2025-38196 severity moderate: SUSE including 26 source package names (cluster-md-kmp-default, dlm-kmp-default, …), 281 product×package rows across 55 product lines (SLES-LTSS-TERADATA 15 SP2, SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7, … (55 product lines)): Known Not Affected 281. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38196/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-38196 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 151, not-affected 146, released 107, needs-triage 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-38196

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38196

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.15.4 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.16 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.16 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-38196

cvelogic Threat Intelligence