CVE-2025-38575

Sensitive crypto data retention via mismatched deallocator

Published Apr 18, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026

Sensitive-data retention in affected Linux ksmbd kernels beginning with 5.15 allows local users to leave crypto request data in freed memory. The free_req path in ksmbd_crypt_message calls kfree() for memory created by aead_request_alloc(), bypassing the request-specific zeroing performed by aead_request_free(). Reaching the path requires low-privileged local access and ksmbd cryptographic message processing; public sources do not demonstrate extraction of the residual data, and NVD records availability impact only.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.27%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Sensitive-data retention in affected Linux ksmbd kernels beginning with 5.15 allows local users to leave crypto request data in freed memory. The free_req path in ksmbd_crypt_message calls kfree() for memory created by aead_request_alloc(), bypassing the request-specific zeroing performed by aead_request_free(). Reaching the path requires low-privileged local access and ksmbd cryptographic message processing; public sources do not demonstrate extraction of the residual data, and NVD records availability impact only.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-38575
Published
Apr 18, 2025
Updated
May 11, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
Unavailable
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Apr 18, 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

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Is a vulnerable build present?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=5.15
  2. Affected versionversion=e2f34481b24db2fd634b5edb0a5bd0e4d38cc6e9 <1de7fec4d3012672e31eeb6679ea60f7ca010ef9
  3. Affected versionversion=e2f34481b24db2fd634b5edb0a5bd0e4d38cc6e9 <3e341dbd5f5a6e5a558e67da80731dc38a7f758c
  4. Affected versionversion=e2f34481b24db2fd634b5edb0a5bd0e4d38cc6e9 <46caeae23035192b9cc41872c827f30d0233f16e
  5. Affected versionversion=e2f34481b24db2fd634b5edb0a5bd0e4d38cc6e9 <571b342d4688801fc1f6a1934389dac09425dc93
  6. Affected versionversion=e2f34481b24db2fd634b5edb0a5bd0e4d38cc6e9 <6171063e9d046ffa46f51579b2ca4a43caef581a
  7. Affected versionversion=e2f34481b24db2fd634b5edb0a5bd0e4d38cc6e9 <a6b594868268c3a7bfaeced912525cd2c445529a
  8. Affected versionversion=e2f34481b24db2fd634b5edb0a5bd0e4d38cc6e9 <aef10ccd74512c52e30c5ee19d0031850973e78d

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=5.15; version=e2f34481b24db2fd634b5edb0a5bd0e4d38cc6e9 <1de7fec4d3012672e31eeb6679ea60f7ca010ef9; version=e2f34481b24db2fd634b5edb0a5bd0e4d38cc6e9 <3e341dbd5f5a6e5a558e67da80731dc38a7f758c; version=e2f34481b24db2fd634b5edb0a5bd0e4d38cc6e9 <46caeae23035192b9cc41872c827f30d0233f16e; version=e2f34481b24db2fd634b5edb0a5bd0e4d38cc6e9 <571b342d4688801fc1f6a1934389dac09425dc93; version=e2f34481b24db2fd634b5edb0a5bd0e4d38cc6e9 <6171063e9d046ffa46f51579b2ca4a43caef581a; version=e2f34481b24db2fd634b5edb0a5bd0e4d38cc6e9 <a6b594868268c3a7bfaeced912525cd2c445529a; version=e2f34481b24db2fd634b5edb0a5bd0e4d38cc6e9 <aef10ccd74512c52e30c5ee19d0031850973e78d

Published CVSS scores

5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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

No sourced classifications are available.

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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