CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2025-38076 — Linux Linux Kernel security vulnerability

High CVSS 7.8

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: alloc_tag: allocate percpu counters for module tags dynamically When a module gets unloaded it checks whether any of its tags are still in use and if so, we keep the memory containing module's allocation tags alive until all tags are unused. However percpu counters referenced by the tags are freed by free_module(). This will lead to UAF if the memory allocated by a module is accessed after module was unloaded. To fix this we allocate percpu counters for module allocation tags dynamically and we keep it alive for tags which are still in use after module unloading. This also removes the requirement of a larger PERCPU_MODULE_RESERVE when memory allocation profiling is enabled because percpu memory for counters does not need to be reserved anymore.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.8 (3.1)
Published
2025-06-18
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
linux/kernel
Weaknesses
CWE-416

Affected products

  • linux / linux_kernel
  • linux / linux_kernel / 6.15

Showing 2 representative product identities from 8 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Use-after-free, double free, and expired resource use

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Trace ownership, references, callbacks, asynchronous tasks, and teardown paths around the affected object or resource.
  • Identify reachable inputs and timing or state transitions that can release the object while references remain.
  • Confirm affected builds, allocators, feature flags, architectures, and process privileges.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the maintained ownership or lifetime fix and rebuild all artifacts containing the affected native code.
  • Use explicit ownership, safe reference management, cancellation and join semantics, and idempotent teardown.
  • Add deterministic lifetime tests plus isolated sanitizer and concurrency coverage for shutdown and error paths.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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