Kernel memory corruption via stale GRE neighbor replay
Published Jun 18, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026
Use-after-free in the Linux kernel mlxsw driver allows local users to corrupt kernel memory by deleting a replayed GRE neighbor. During driver reload, neighbor replay omits the normal upper-device check and offloads a GRE neighbor, while later deletion ignores its notification and leaves a freed object referenced. Reaching the flaw requires privileges to administer network devices and reload the mlxsw driver on Spectrum hardware; dereferencing the stale object can crash the kernel or corrupt memory.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in the Linux kernel mlxsw driver allows local users to corrupt kernel memory by deleting a replayed GRE neighbor. During driver reload, neighbor replay omits the normal upper-device check and offloads a GRE neighbor, while later deletion ignores its notification and leaves a freed object referenced. Reaching the flaw requires privileges to administer network devices and reload the mlxsw driver on Spectrum hardware; dereferencing the stale object can crash the kernel or corrupt memory.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-38019
- Published
- Jun 18, 2025
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-416, T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jun 18, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=6.6
- Affected versionversion=8fdb09a7674c61c4f0e5faf0d63b3ce500a341b0 <92ec4855034b2c4d13f117558dc73d20581fa9ff
- Affected versionversion=8fdb09a7674c61c4f0e5faf0d63b3ce500a341b0 <9ab7945f3a61ed23da412e30f1e56414c05c4f06
- Affected versionversion=8fdb09a7674c61c4f0e5faf0d63b3ce500a341b0 <abc43c1ffdbc801b0b04ac845bfaf1d42b8f68f7
- Affected versionversion=8fdb09a7674c61c4f0e5faf0d63b3ce500a341b0 <f1ecccb5cdda39bca8cd17bb0b6cf61361e33578
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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