CVE-2025-38525 | rxrpc: Fix irq-disabled in local_bh_enable()

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: rxrpc: Fix irq-disabled in local_bh_enable() The rxrpc_assess_MTU_size() function calls down into the IP layer to find out the MTU size for a route. When accepting an incoming call, this is called from rxrpc_new_incoming_call() which holds interrupts disabled across the code that calls down to it. Unfortunately, the IP layer uses local_bh_enable() which, config dependent, throws a warning if IRQs are enabled: WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 5544 at kernel/softirq.c:387 __local_bh_enable_ip+0x43/0xd0 ... RIP: 0010:__local_bh_enable_ip+0x43/0xd0 ... Call Trace: <TASK> rt_cache_route+0x7e/0xa0 rt_set_nexthop.isra.0+0x3b3/0x3f0 __mkroute_output+0x43a/0x460 ip_route_output_key_hash+0xf7/0x140 ip_route_output_flow+0x1b/0x90 rxrpc_assess_MTU_size.isra.0+0x2a0/0x590 rxrpc_new_incoming_peer+0x46/0x120 rxrpc_alloc_incoming_call+0x1b1/0x400 rxrpc_new_incoming_call+0x1da/0x5e0 rxrpc_input_packet+0x827/0x900 rxrpc_io_thread+0x403/0xb60 kthread+0x2f7/0x310 ret_from_fork+0x2a/0x230 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 ... hardirqs last enabled at (23): _raw_spin_unlock_irq+0x24/0x50 hardirqs last disabled at (24): _raw_read_lock_irq+0x17/0x70 softirqs last enabled at (0): copy_process+0xc61/0x2730 softirqs last disabled at (25): rt_add_uncached_list+0x3c/0x90 Fix this by moving the call to rxrpc_assess_MTU_size() out of rxrpc_init_peer() and further up the stack where it can be done without interrupts disabled. It shouldn't be a problem for rxrpc_new_incoming_call() to do it after the locks are dropped as pmtud is going to be performed by the I/O thread - and we're in the I/O thread at this point.

Published: 2025-08-16 Last update: 2025-11-18 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-38525 is rated Low Risk (30/100): 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-2025-38525

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 2026-06-12 0.02% 0.07% +0.06%
2 2025-08-16 0.02%

Full EPSS history (2 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-38525

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-2025-38525

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-38525

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2025-38525 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-2025-38525
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38525
suse low CVE-2025-38525 severity low: 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-2025-38525/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-38525 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 159, not-affected 132, released 102, needs-triage 2, needed 1, pending 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-38525

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38525

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 6.14, < 6.15.8 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:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.16 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.16 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.16 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.16 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-38525

cvelogic Threat Intelligence