CVE-2025-38493

Kernel panic via uninitialized stack-entry size

Published Jul 28, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026

Denial of service in the Linux kernel tracing/osnoise subsystem allows local users to trigger a kernel panic through timerlat stack saving. In __timerlat_dump_stack(), memcpy writes the caller array before entry->size initializes the __counted_by bound, so garbage or zero makes fortify report an overflow. A local user with low privileges must read timerlat output while stack saving is enabled; the failure interrupts the host without reported data disclosure or modification.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.15%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Denial of service in the Linux kernel tracing/osnoise subsystem allows local users to trigger a kernel panic through timerlat stack saving. In __timerlat_dump_stack(), memcpy writes the caller array before entry->size initializes the __counted_by bound, so garbage or zero makes fortify report an overflow. A local user with low privileges must read timerlat output while stack saving is enabled; the failure interrupts the host without reported data disclosure or modification.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-38493
Published
Jul 28, 2025
Updated
May 11, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-674, T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jul 28, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. May 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=6.6
  2. Affected versionversion=e7186af7fb2609584a8bfb3da3c6ae09da5a5224 <7bb9ea515cda027c9e717e27fefcf34f092e7c41
  3. Affected versionversion=e7186af7fb2609584a8bfb3da3c6ae09da5a5224 <823d798900481875ba6c68217af028c5ffd2976b
  4. Affected versionversion=e7186af7fb2609584a8bfb3da3c6ae09da5a5224 <85a3bce695b361d85fc528e6fbb33e4c8089c806
  5. Affected versionversion=e7186af7fb2609584a8bfb3da3c6ae09da5a5224 <fbf90f5aa7ac7cddc69148a71d58f12c8709ce2b

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=6.6; version=e7186af7fb2609584a8bfb3da3c6ae09da5a5224 <7bb9ea515cda027c9e717e27fefcf34f092e7c41; version=e7186af7fb2609584a8bfb3da3c6ae09da5a5224 <823d798900481875ba6c68217af028c5ffd2976b; version=e7186af7fb2609584a8bfb3da3c6ae09da5a5224 <85a3bce695b361d85fc528e6fbb33e4c8089c806; version=e7186af7fb2609584a8bfb3da3c6ae09da5a5224 <fbf90f5aa7ac7cddc69148a71d58f12c8709ce2b

Published CVSS scores

7.0Amazon LinuxCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
5.5Canonical UbuntuCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
6.8SUSECVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

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.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-674Uncontrolled Recursion
T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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