CVE-2025-38617Public exploit

Local privilege escalation via packet-socket use-after-free

Published Aug 22, 2025 · Updated Aug 5, 2026

Use-after-free in Linux packet sockets 2.6.12 through 6.16 allows local users to gain root privileges and escape containers. The packet_set_ring() path releases po->bind_lock without always clearing po->num, letting packet_notifier() re-hook the socket and deliver packets into a freed ring buffer. Exploitation requires CONFIG_PACKET and CAP_NET_RAW, which unprivileged user namespaces can provide, and yields full host privilege escalation.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.34%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Use-after-free in Linux packet sockets 2.6.12 through 6.16 allows local users to gain root privileges and escape containers. The packet_set_ring() path releases po->bind_lock without always clearing po->num, letting packet_notifier() re-hook the socket and deliver packets into a freed ring buffer. Exploitation requires CONFIG_PACKET and CAP_NET_RAW, which unprivileged user namespaces can provide, and yields full host privilege escalation.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-38617
Published
Aug 22, 2025
Updated
Aug 5, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 22, 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

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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=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <01d3c8417b9c1b884a8a981a3b886da556512f36
  2. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <18f13f2a83eb81be349a9757ba2141ff1da9ad73
  3. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <7da733f117533e9b2ebbd530a22ae4028713955c
  4. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <7de07705007c7e34995a5599aaab1d23e762d7ca
  5. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <88caf46db8239e6471413d28aabaa6b8bd552805
  6. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <ba2257034755ae773722f15f4c3ad1dcdad15ca9
  7. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <e50ccfaca9e3c671cae917dcb994831a859cf588
  8. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <f1791fd7b845bea0ce9674fcf2febee7bc87a893
  9. Affected versionversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <f2e8fcfd2b1bc754920108b7f2cd75082c5a18df
  10. Affected versionversion=2.6.12

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <01d3c8417b9c1b884a8a981a3b886da556512f36; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <18f13f2a83eb81be349a9757ba2141ff1da9ad73; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <7da733f117533e9b2ebbd530a22ae4028713955c; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <7de07705007c7e34995a5599aaab1d23e762d7ca; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <88caf46db8239e6471413d28aabaa6b8bd552805; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <ba2257034755ae773722f15f4c3ad1dcdad15ca9; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <e50ccfaca9e3c671cae917dcb994831a859cf588; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <f1791fd7b845bea0ce9674fcf2febee7bc87a893; version=1da177e4c3f41524e886b7f1b8a0c1fc7321cac2 <f2e8fcfd2b1bc754920108b7f2cd75082c5a18df; version=2.6.12

Published CVSS scores

4.7NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
7.8Linux CNACVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

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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