Vulnerability Database

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CVE-2025-38443 — linux / linux_kernel

Use After Free

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

nbd: fix uaf in nbd_genl_connect() error path

There is a use-after-free issue in nbd:

block nbd6: Receive control failed (result -104) block nbd6: shutting down sockets

BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in recv_work+0x694/0xa80 drivers/block/nbd.c:1022 Write of size 4 at addr ffff8880295de478 by task kworker/u33:0/67

CPU: 2 UID: 0 PID: 67 Comm: kworker/u33:0 Not tainted 6.15.0-rc5-syzkaller-00123-g2c89c1b655c0 #0 PREEMPT(full) Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2~bpo12+1 04/01/2014 Workqueue: nbd6-recv recv_work Call Trace: <TASK> __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:94 [inline] dump_stack_lvl+0x116/0x1f0 lib/dump_stack.c:120 print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:408 [inline] print_report+0xc3/0x670 mm/kasan/report.c:521 kasan_report+0xe0/0x110 mm/kasan/report.c:634 check_region_inline mm/kasan/generic.c:183 [inline] kasan_check_range+0xef/0x1a0 mm/kasan/generic.c:189 instrument_atomic_read_write include/linux/instrumented.h:96 [inline] atomic_dec include/linux/atomic/atomic-instrumented.h:592 [inline] recv_work+0x694/0xa80 drivers/block/nbd.c:1022 process_one_work+0x9cc/0x1b70 kernel/workqueue.c:3238 process_scheduled_works kernel/workqueue.c:3319 [inline] worker_thread+0x6c8/0xf10 kernel/workqueue.c:3400 kthread+0x3c2/0x780 kernel/kthread.c:464 ret_from_fork+0x45/0x80 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:153 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:245 </TASK>

nbd_genl_connect() does not properly stop the device on certain error paths after nbd_start_device() has been called. This causes the error path to put nbd->config while recv_work continue to use the config after putting it, leading to use-after-free in recv_work.

This patch moves nbd_start_device() after the backend file creation.

  • Published: Jul 25, 2025
  • Updated: Dec 23, 2025
  • CVE: CVE-2025-38443
  • Severity: High
  • Exploit:
  • CISA KEV:

CVSS v3:

  • Severity: High
  • Score: 7.8
  • AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CWEs:

Frequently Asked Questions

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CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.

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Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.

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