CVE-2025-38590Network attack vector

Remote kernel crash via zero-length secpath

Published Aug 19, 2025 · Updated Aug 5, 2026

Denial of service in affected Linux kernels allows remote attackers to crash systems through mlx5e IPsec packet processing. After hardware decryption misses a freed XFRM state, mlx5e leaves a zero-length secpath attached, and __xfrm_policy_check dereferences sp->xvec[-1]. Reachability requires mlx5e hardware IPsec offload and ESP traffic during security-association teardown or rekeying; the bounded consequence is a kernel panic.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.36%
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 affected Linux kernels allows remote attackers to crash systems through mlx5e IPsec packet processing. After hardware decryption misses a freed XFRM state, mlx5e leaves a zero-length secpath attached, and __xfrm_policy_check dereferences sp->xvec[-1]. Reachability requires mlx5e hardware IPsec offload and ESP traffic during security-association teardown or rekeying; the bounded consequence is a kernel panic.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-38590
Published
Aug 19, 2025
Updated
Aug 5, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-401, T1499.004
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 19, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 5, 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=5.9
  2. Affected versionversion=b2ac7541e3777f325c49d900550c9e3dd10c0eda <137b12a4900eb6971b889839eab6036f72cbb217
  3. Affected versionversion=b2ac7541e3777f325c49d900550c9e3dd10c0eda <314f568b84b01f6eac1e4313ca47f9ade4349443
  4. Affected versionversion=b2ac7541e3777f325c49d900550c9e3dd10c0eda <3a5782431d84716b66302b07ff1b32fea1023bd5
  5. Affected versionversion=b2ac7541e3777f325c49d900550c9e3dd10c0eda <6d19c44b5c6dd72f9a357d0399604ec16a77de3c
  6. Affected versionversion=b2ac7541e3777f325c49d900550c9e3dd10c0eda <781a0bbf377443ef06f3248221f06cb555935530

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=5.9; version=b2ac7541e3777f325c49d900550c9e3dd10c0eda <137b12a4900eb6971b889839eab6036f72cbb217; version=b2ac7541e3777f325c49d900550c9e3dd10c0eda <314f568b84b01f6eac1e4313ca47f9ade4349443; version=b2ac7541e3777f325c49d900550c9e3dd10c0eda <3a5782431d84716b66302b07ff1b32fea1023bd5; version=b2ac7541e3777f325c49d900550c9e3dd10c0eda <6d19c44b5c6dd72f9a357d0399604ec16a77de3c; version=b2ac7541e3777f325c49d900550c9e3dd10c0eda <781a0bbf377443ef06f3248221f06cb555935530

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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

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

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-401Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime
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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