CVE-2025-38563 | perf/core: Prevent VMA split of buffer mappings

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: perf/core: Prevent VMA split of buffer mappings The perf mmap code is careful about mmap()'ing the user page with the ringbuffer and additionally the auxiliary buffer, when the event supports it. Once the first mapping is established, subsequent mapping have to use the same offset and the same size in both cases. The reference counting for the ringbuffer and the auxiliary buffer depends on this being correct. Though perf does not prevent that a related mapping is split via mmap(2), munmap(2) or mremap(2). A split of a VMA results in perf_mmap_open() calls, which take reference counts, but then the subsequent perf_mmap_close() calls are not longer fulfilling the offset and size checks. This leads to reference count leaks. As perf already has the requirement for subsequent mappings to match the initial mapping, the obvious consequence is that VMA splits, caused by resizing of a mapping or partial unmapping, have to be prevented. Implement the vm_operations_struct::may_split() callback and return unconditionally -EINVAL. That ensures that the mapping offsets and sizes cannot be changed after the fact. Remapping to a different fixed address with the same size is still possible as it takes the references for the new mapping and drops those of the old mapping.

Published: 2025-08-19 Last update: 2026-01-08 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-38563 is rated Low Risk (33/100): CVSS High 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-2025-38563

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 2026-01-09 0.06% 0.02% -0.04%
2 2025-11-21 0.05% 0.06% +0.01%
3 2025-11-18 0.05%

Full EPSS history (5 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-38563

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-38563

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-38563

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2025-38563 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-2025-38563
redhat low https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38563
suse high https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38563/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-38563 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 164, released 135, needed 76, not-affected 19, needs-triage 2, pending 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-38563

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38563

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 4.1, < 5.4.297 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.5, < 5.10.241 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.190 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.1.148 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.102 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.42 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.15.10 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.16, < 6.16.1 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-38563

URL Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3bd518cc7ea61076bcd725e36ff0e690754977c0 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/65311aad4c808bedad0c05d9bb8b06c47dae73eb Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6757a31a8e295ae4f01717a954afda173f25a121 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7b84cb58d1f0aa07656802eae24689566e5f5b1b Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b024d7b56c77191cde544f838debb7f8451cd0d6 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d52451a9210f2e5a079ba052918c93563518a9ff Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e4346ffec2c44d6b0be834d59b20632b5bb5729e Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e529888b7e8092912dd8789bdfc76685ccd2ff5f Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ff668930871e0198c7f4e325058b8b7c286787bd Patch
https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-25-873/ Third Party Advisory
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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