CVE-2025-38546 | atm: clip: Fix memory leak of struct clip_vcc.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: atm: clip: Fix memory leak of struct clip_vcc. ioctl(ATMARP_MKIP) allocates struct clip_vcc and set it to vcc->user_back. The code assumes that vcc_destroy_socket() passes NULL skb to vcc->push() when the socket is close()d, and then clip_push() frees clip_vcc. However, ioctl(ATMARPD_CTRL) sets NULL to vcc->push() in atm_init_atmarp(), resulting in memory leak. Let's serialise two ioctl() by lock_sock() and check vcc->push() in atm_init_atmarp() to prevent memleak.

Published: 2025-08-16 Last update: 2026-01-07 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-38546 is rated Low Risk (23.7/100): 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-2025-38546

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 2026-01-08 0.06% 0.02% -0.04%
2 2025-12-16 0.02% 0.06% +0.04%
3 2025-08-16 0.02%

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-38546

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-2025-38546

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-38546

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2025-38546 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-2025-38546
redhat low https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38546
suse medium https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38546/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-38546 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 165, released 165, needed 45, not-affected 18, needs-triage 2, pending 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-38546

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38546

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 2.6.13, < 5.4.296 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, < 5.15.189 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.1.146 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.99 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.39 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.15.7 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:*:*:*:*:*:*
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:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-38546

URL Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0c17ff462d98c997d707ee5cf4e4a9b1b52b9d90 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1c075e88d5859a2c6b43b27e0e46fb281cef8039 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1fb9fb5a4b5cec2d56e26525ef8c519de858fa60 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2fb37ab3226606cbfc9b2b6f9e301b0b735734c5 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/62dba28275a9a3104d4e33595c7b3328d4032d8d Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9e4dbeee56f614e3f1e166e5d0655a999ea185ef Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9f771816f14da6d6157a8c30069091abf6b566fb Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cb2e4a2f8f268d8fba6662f663a2e57846f14a8d Patch
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00007.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
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