CVE-2025-38417 | ice: fix eswitch code memory leak in reset scenario

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ice: fix eswitch code memory leak in reset scenario Add simple eswitch mode checker in attaching VF procedure and allocate required port representor memory structures only in switchdev mode. The reset flows triggers VF (if present) detach/attach procedure. It might involve VF port representor(s) re-creation if the device is configured is switchdev mode (not legacy one). The memory was blindly allocated in current implementation, regardless of the mode and not freed if in legacy mode. Kmemeleak trace: unreferenced object (percpu) 0x7e3bce5b888458 (size 40): comm "bash", pid 1784, jiffies 4295743894 hex dump (first 32 bytes on cpu 45): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ backtrace (crc 0): pcpu_alloc_noprof+0x4c4/0x7c0 ice_repr_create+0x66/0x130 [ice] ice_repr_create_vf+0x22/0x70 [ice] ice_eswitch_attach_vf+0x1b/0xa0 [ice] ice_reset_all_vfs+0x1dd/0x2f0 [ice] ice_pci_err_resume+0x3b/0xb0 [ice] pci_reset_function+0x8f/0x120 reset_store+0x56/0xa0 kernfs_fop_write_iter+0x120/0x1b0 vfs_write+0x31c/0x430 ksys_write+0x61/0xd0 do_syscall_64+0x5b/0x180 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e Testing hints (ethX is PF netdev): - create at least one VF echo 1 > /sys/class/net/ethX/device/sriov_numvfs - trigger the reset echo 1 > /sys/class/net/ethX/device/reset

Published: 2025-07-25 Last update: 2025-11-19 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-38417 is rated Low Risk (22.9/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). 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-2025-38417

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 2025-07-26 0.02%

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-38417

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-2025-38417

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-38417

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2025-38417 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-2025-38417
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38417
suse low CVE-2025-38417 severity low: SUSE including 401 source package names (amazon/suse-sles-15-sp1-chost-byos-v20210304-hvm-ssd-x86_64, amazon/suse-sles-15-sp1-chost-byos-v20220127-hvm-ssd-x86_64, …), 879 product×package rows across 129 product lines (Image SLES-Azure-3P, Image SLES-Azure-Basic, … (129 product lines)): Fixed 354, Known Not Affected 273, Known Affected 231, First Fixed 21. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38417/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-38417 medium priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1414 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1017, ignored 151, not-affected 136, released 108, needs-triage 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-38417

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38417

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 6.12, < 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 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-2025-38417

cvelogic Threat Intelligence