🛡️ CVE-2025-38476 on Debian — linux
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: rpl: Fix use-after-free in rpl_do_srh_inline(). Running lwt_dst_cache_ref_loop.sh in selftest with KASAN triggers the splat below [0]. rpl_do_srh_inline() fetches ipv6_hdr(skb) and accesses it after skb_cow_head(), which is illegal as the header could be freed then. Let's fix it by making oldhdr to a local struct instead of a pointer. [0]: [root@fedora net]# ./lwt_dst_cache_ref_loop.sh ... TEST: rpl (input) [ 57.631529] ================================================================== BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in rpl_do_srh_inline.isra.0 (net/ipv6/rpl_iptunnel.c:174) Read of size 40 at addr ffff888122bf96d8 by task ping6/1543 CPU: 50 UID: 0 PID: 1543 Comm: ping6 Not tainted 6.16.0-rc5-01302-gfadd1e6231b1 #23 PREEMPT(voluntary) Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014 Call Trace: <IRQ> dump_stack_lvl (lib/dump_stack.c:122) print_report (mm/kasan/report.c:409 mm/kasan/report.c:521) kasan_report (mm/kasan/report.c:221 mm/kasan/report.c:636) kasan_check_range (mm/kasan/generic.c:175 (discriminator 1) mm/kasan/generic.c:189 (discriminator 1)) __asan_memmove (mm/kasan/shadow.c:94 (discriminator 2)) rpl_do_srh_inline.isra.0 (net/ipv6/rpl_iptunnel.c:174) rpl_input (net/ipv6/rpl_iptunnel.c:201 net/ipv6/rpl_iptunnel.c:282) lwtunnel_input (net/core/lwtunnel.c:459) ipv6_rcv (./include/net/dst.h:471 (discriminator 1) ./include/net/dst.h:469 (discriminator 1) net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:79 (discriminator 1) ./include/linux/netfilter.h:317 (discriminator 1) ./include/linux/netfilter.h:311 (discriminator 1) net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:311 (discriminator 1)) __netif_receive_skb_one_core (net/core/dev.c:5967) process_backlog (./include/linux/rcupdate.h:869 net/core/dev.c:6440) __napi_poll.constprop.0 (net/core/dev.c:7452) net_rx_action (net/core/dev.c:7518 net/core/dev.c:7643) handle_softirqs (kernel/softirq.c:579) do_softirq (kernel/softirq.c:480 (discriminator 20)) </IRQ> <TASK> __local_bh_enable_ip (kernel/softirq.c:407) __dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4740) ip6_finish_output2 (./include/linux/netdevice.h:3358 ./include/net/neighbour.h:526 ./include/net/neighbour.h:540 net/ipv6/ip6_output.c:141) ip6_finish_output (net/ipv6/ip6_output.c:215 net/ipv6/ip6_output.c:226) ip6_output (./include/linux/netfilter.h:306 net/ipv6/ip6_output.c:248) ip6_send_skb (net/ipv6/ip6_output.c:1983) rawv6_sendmsg (net/ipv6/raw.c:588 net/ipv6/raw.c:918) __sys_sendto (net/socket.c:714 (discriminator 1) net/socket.c:729 (discriminator 1) net/socket.c:2228 (discriminator 1)) __x64_sys_sendto (net/socket.c:2231) do_syscall_64 (arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 (discriminator 1) arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94 (discriminator 1)) entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:130) RIP: 0033:0x7f68cffb2a06 Code: 5d e8 41 8b 93 08 03 00 00 59 5e 48 83 f8 fc 75 19 83 e2 39 83 fa 08 75 11 e8 26 ff ff ff 66 0f 1f 44 00 00 48 8b 45 10 0f 05 <48> 8b 5d f8 c9 c3 0f 1f 40 00 f3 0f 1e fa 55 48 89 e5 48 83 ec 08 RSP: 002b:00007ffefb7c53d0 EFLAGS: 00000202 ORIG_RAX: 000000000000002c RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000564cd69f10a0 RCX: 00007f68cffb2a06 RDX: 0000000000000040 RSI: 0000564cd69f10a4 RDI: 0000000000000003 RBP: 00007ffefb7c53f0 R08: 0000564cd6a032ac R09: 000000000000001c R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000202 R12: 0000564cd69f10a4 R13: 0000000000000040 R14: 00007ffefb7c66e0 R15: 0000564cd69f10a0 </TASK> Allocated by task 1543: kasan_save_stack (mm/kasan/common.c:48) kasan_save_track (mm/kasan/common.c:60 (discriminator 1) mm/kasan/common.c:69 (discriminator 1)) __kasan_slab_alloc (mm/kasan/common.c:319 mm/kasan/common.c:345) kmem_cache_alloc_node_noprof (./include/linux/kasan.h:250 mm/slub.c:4148 mm/slub.c:4197 mm/slub.c:4249) kmalloc_reserve (net/core/skbuff.c:581 (discriminator 88)) __alloc_skb (net/core/skbuff.c:669) __ip6_append_data (net/ipv6/ip6_output.c:1672 (discriminator 1)) ip6_ ---truncated---
Distribution advisory
This page covers CVE-2025-38476 as tracked by Debian, for the package linux. The fix is available in version 6.16.3-1; earlier versions remain affected.
How this vulnerability can be exploited
This issue can be reached with local access to the system, attack complexity is low, an attacker needs low-level privileges on the target. No user interaction is required. The scope is unchanged, so the impact stays within the vulnerable component. Rated impact: confidentiality high, integrity high, availability high.
Weakness class
DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38476 is classified as CWE-416: Use After Free. Memory is used after being released, so its contents may already belong to something else.
Affected software
DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38476 is recorded against 2 packages.
- linux (fixed in 6.16.3-1)
- linux-6.1 (fixed in 6.1.153-1~deb11u1)
Timeline and source
Published on 28 July 2025 and last revised on 4 August 2026. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. Record sourced from OSV.
References
CVE-2025-38476 on other distributions
Each distribution ships its own build and its own fixed version. Pick the one you run:
Details
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Affected Packages
| Software | From version | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| linux | — | 6.16.3-1 |
| linux-6.1 | — | 6.1.153-1~deb11u1 |
References
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Exploit Protection
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DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38476 carries CVSS 9.8 Critical rating. BotEraser checks your installation against this and other known CVE records, and blocks IPs associated with exploit activity.
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