Login Sign Up

CVE-2025-38084

5.5 MEDIUM
Denial of Service

📋 TL;DR

A race condition vulnerability in the Linux kernel's hugetlb (huge page) memory management allows concurrent processes to improperly share page tables during VMA splitting. This affects Linux systems using hugetlb memory, potentially leading to memory corruption or crashes. The vulnerability impacts all Linux distributions running affected kernel versions.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:
  • Linux kernel
Versions: Kernel versions from 5.13 through patched versions (back to original introduction of the bug)
Operating Systems: All Linux distributions using affected kernel versions
Default Config Vulnerable: ✅ No
Notes: Only vulnerable when hugetlb (huge pages) feature is enabled and being used. Many systems may not use hugetlb by default.

📦 What is this software?

Debian Linux by Debian

View all CVEs affecting Debian Linux →

Linux Kernel by Linux

The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...

Learn more about Linux Kernel →

Linux Kernel by Linux

The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...

Learn more about Linux Kernel →

Linux Kernel by Linux

The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...

Learn more about Linux Kernel →

Linux Kernel by Linux

The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...

Learn more about Linux Kernel →

Linux Kernel by Linux

The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...

Learn more about Linux Kernel →

Linux Kernel by Linux

The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...

Learn more about Linux Kernel →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Kernel panic or system crash leading to denial of service, potential memory corruption that could be leveraged for privilege escalation in combination with other vulnerabilities.

🟠

Likely Case

System instability, application crashes, or kernel panics when hugetlb memory operations occur concurrently with VMA splitting.

🟢

If Mitigated

Minimal impact if hugetlb is not used or systems have limited concurrent memory operations.

🌐 Internet-Facing: LOW - This is a kernel-level memory management issue requiring local access or specific memory operations.
🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Local users or processes could trigger the race condition, potentially causing system instability affecting other services.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No
Weaponized: UNKNOWN
Unauthenticated Exploit: ✅ No
Complexity: HIGH - Requires triggering a specific race condition during memory operations.

Exploitation requires local access and specific timing conditions to trigger the race condition.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: Fixed in kernel commit 081056dc00a27bccb55ccc3c6f230a3d5fd3f7e0 and backported to stable branches

Vendor Advisory: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/081056dc00a27bccb55ccc3c6f230a3d5fd3f7e0

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Update Linux kernel to patched version from your distribution vendor. 2. Reboot system to load new kernel. 3. Verify kernel version after reboot.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable hugetlb

linux

Disable huge pages feature if not required

echo never > /sys/kernel/mm/transparent_hugepage/enabled
echo 0 > /proc/sys/vm/nr_hugepages

🧯 If You Can't Patch

  • Disable hugetlb feature if not required for system functionality
  • Limit user access to systems to reduce potential for triggering the race condition

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check kernel version: uname -r and compare with affected versions (5.13+). Check if hugetlb is enabled: cat /proc/meminfo | grep Huge

Check Version:

uname -r

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify kernel version is newer than patched version. Check kernel changelog for commit 081056dc00a27bccb55ccc3c6f230a3d5fd3f7e0

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

  • Kernel panic logs
  • OOM killer messages related to hugetlb
  • System crash dumps

Network Indicators:

  • None - this is a local memory management issue

SIEM Query:

Search for kernel panic events or system crash reports on Linux hosts

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2025-38084
CVSS v3 Score: 5.5 (MEDIUM)
CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score: 0.03% exploit probability (6.1th percentile)
Published: June 28, 2025
Last Updated: December 18, 2025

🔗 References

📤 Share & Export

📄 Export Markdown 📋 Export JSON