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Fencer Vulns
high 7.8

CVE-2025-38097 json

espintcp: remove encap socket caching to avoid reference leak

published 2025-07-03 16 mo ago modified 2026-10-15 24 d ago also EUVD-2025-19766

cvss
7.8
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.2%
EPSS 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 10%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

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

espintcp: remove encap socket caching to avoid reference leak

The current scheme for caching the encap socket can lead to reference leaks when we try to delete the netns.

The reference chain is: xfrm_state -> enacp_sk -> netns

Since the encap socket is a userspace socket, it holds a reference on the netns. If we delete the espintcp state (through flush or individual delete) before removing the netns, the reference on the socket is dropped and the netns is correctly deleted. Otherwise, the netns may not be reachable anymore (if all processes within the ns have terminated), so we cannot delete the xfrm state to drop its reference on the socket.

This patch results in a small (~2% in my tests) performance regression.

A GC-type mechanism could be added for the socket cache, to clear references if the state hasn't been used "recently", but it's a lot more complex than just not caching the socket.

Patch / fix

  • Linux Linux 5.10.270, 5.15.221, 6.1.141, 6.6.93, 6.12.31, 6.14.9, 6.15
  • linux Debian 12 6.1.147-1
  • linux Debian 14, Debian 13 6.12.32-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38097

  • linux Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-202.212
  • linux Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-100.100
  • linux-aws Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-1119.126
  • linux-aws Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-1046.49
  • linux-gcp Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-1120.130
  • linux-gcp Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-1047.50
  • linux-gke Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-1115.121
  • linux-gke Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-1043.48

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38097

Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • kernel RHEL 9 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8
  • rv RHEL 9 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8
  • perf RHEL 9 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8
  • rtla RHEL 9 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8
  • libperf RHEL 9 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8
  • kernel-rt RHEL 9 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8
  • kernel-64k RHEL 9 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8
  • kernel-core RHEL 9 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8

red hat advisories RHSA-2026:18587RHSA-2026:18134

  • kernel-rt Real Time Module 15 SP6, openSUSE Leap 15.6 6.4.0-150600.10.49.1
  • kernel-syms-rt Real Time Module 15 SP6, openSUSE Leap 15.6 6.4.0-150600.10.49.1
  • kernel-rt_debug Real Time Module 15 SP6, openSUSE Leap 15.6 6.4.0-150600.10.49.1
  • kernel-source-rt Real Time Module 15 SP6, openSUSE Leap 15.6 6.4.0-150600.10.49.1
  • kernel-azure SLE Module for Public Cloud 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.20.11.1
  • kernel-syms-azure SLE Module for Public Cloud 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.20.11.1
  • kernel-source-azure SLE Module for Public Cloud 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.20.11.1
  • kernel-64kb SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.11.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2025:03023-1SUSE-SU-2025:03011-1SUSE-SU-2025:02997-1SUSE-SU-2025:02996-1SUSE-SU-2025:20586-1SUSE-SU-2025:20602-1

  • kernel AlmaLinux 10 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2
  • rv AlmaLinux 10 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2
  • perf AlmaLinux 10 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2
  • rtla AlmaLinux 10 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2
  • libperf AlmaLinux 10 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2
  • kernel-rt AlmaLinux 10 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2
  • kernel-64k AlmaLinux 10 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2
  • kernel-core AlmaLinux 10 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2

almalinux advisories ALSA-2026:18134ALSA-2026:18587

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2025-38097 updated cvss 3.3

kernel: espintcp: remove encap socket caching to avoid reference leak

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, kernel-core, kernel-tools, +29 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 kernel-rt, kernel-rt-kvm, kernel-rt-core, kernel-rt-modules, kernel-rt-debug-kvm, kernel-rt-debug-core, +12 more
    affected: no fix available “Fix deferred”
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) rv 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, perf 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, rtla 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, python3-perf 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, kernel-devel-matched 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, kernel-64k-devel-matched 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, +7 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18587
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 10) rv 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, perf 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, rtla 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, python3-perf 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-devel-matched 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-64k-devel-matched 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, +7 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18134
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) kernel 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, kernel-64k 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, kernel-core 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, kernel-tools 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, kernel-modules 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, kernel-64k-core 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, +27 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18587
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 10) kernel 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-64k 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-core 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-tools 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-modules 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-64k-core 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, +28 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18134
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) libperf 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, kernel-debuginfo-common-s390x 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, kernel-debuginfo-common-aarch64 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64le 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18587
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 10) libperf 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-debuginfo-common-s390x 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-debuginfo-common-aarch64 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64le 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18134
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 9) kernel-rt 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, kernel-rt-64k 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, kernel-rt-core 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, kernel-rt-modules 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, kernel-rt-64k-core 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, kernel-rt-debug-core 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, +14 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18587
show 4 more
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 10) kernel-rt 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-64k 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-core 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-modules 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-64k-core 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-debug-core 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, +14 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18134
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 9) kernel-rt 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, kernel-rt-core 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, kernel-rt-modules 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, kernel-rt-debug-core 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, kernel-rt-modules-core 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, kernel-rt-debug-modules 5.14.0-687.5.1.el9_8, +4 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18587
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 10) kernel-rt 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-core 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-modules 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-debug-core 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-modules-core 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-debug-modules 6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, +4 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:18134
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 perf, kernel, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-firmware, kernel-bootwrapper, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, python-perf, kernel-kdump, +8 more
    not affected: vulnerable code not present

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total
Assessed
24 d ago

Exploit prediction

0.21% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 10% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 7.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD 3.1 5.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Affected products

  • Linux Linux

Classification

Technology feeds

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.