Remote kernel crash via SUNRPC authentication error
Published Jun 30, 2025 · Updated Aug 5, 2026
NULL pointer dereference in affected Linux kernels allows remote attackers to crash NFS servers via a malformed RPC request. The SUNRPC authentication path treats SVC_GARBAGE as GARBAGE_ARGS and writes through rq_accept_statp even when decoding left it NULL or stale. An unauthenticated host that can reach the kernel RPC listener can kill nfsd threads and interrupt NFS service; reused threads can instead incur kernel memory corruption.
Summary
What happened
NULL pointer dereference in affected Linux kernels allows remote attackers to crash NFS servers via a malformed RPC request. The SUNRPC authentication path treats SVC_GARBAGE as GARBAGE_ARGS and writes through rq_accept_statp even when decoding left it NULL or stale. An unauthenticated host that can reach the kernel RPC listener can kill nfsd threads and interrupt NFS service; reused threads can instead incur kernel memory corruption.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-38089
- Published
- Jun 30, 2025
- Updated
- Aug 5, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-476, T1499
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jun 30, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 5, 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=29cd2927fb914cc53b5ba4f67d2b74695c994ba4 <353e75b55e583635bf71cde6abcec274dba05edd
- Affected versionversion=29cd2927fb914cc53b5ba4f67d2b74695c994ba4 <599c489eea793821232a2f69a00fa57d82b0ac98
- Affected versionversion=29cd2927fb914cc53b5ba4f67d2b74695c994ba4 <94d10a4dba0bc482f2b01e39f06d5513d0f75742
- Affected versionversion=29cd2927fb914cc53b5ba4f67d2b74695c994ba4 <c90459cd58bb421d275337093d8e901e0ba748dd
- Affected versionversion=6.3.4 <6.4
- Affected versionversion=6.4
- Affected versionversion=9b59f5c4911e87264507e0934cd2bb277390c560
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
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Public exploit references
- NFSundownproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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