CVE-2025-38628

Kernel warning via uninitialized vDPA resource cleanup

Published Aug 22, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026

Resource cleanup flaw in the Linux kernel allows local users to trigger a kernel warning by adding an mlx5 vDPA device without a MAC address. The mlx5_vdpa_free path calls mlx5_vdpa_destroy_mr_resources and asynchronous-context cleanup against resources that were never initialized after device creation fails. Reaching the fault requires local device-management privileges, mlx5 vDPA support and compatible ConnectX hardware; the published trace establishes a warning rather than a panic or data loss.

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

What happened

Resource cleanup flaw in the Linux kernel allows local users to trigger a kernel warning by adding an mlx5 vDPA device without a MAC address. The mlx5_vdpa_free path calls mlx5_vdpa_destroy_mr_resources and asynchronous-context cleanup against resources that were never initialized after device creation fails. Reaching the fault requires local device-management privileges, mlx5 vDPA support and compatible ConnectX hardware; the published trace establishes a warning rather than a panic or data loss.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-38628
Published
Aug 22, 2025
Updated
May 11, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
Unavailable
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 22, 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=6.12
  2. Affected versionversion=83e445e64f48bdae3f25013e788fcf592f142576 <37f26b9013b46457b0a96633fc3a7dc977d8beb1
  3. Affected versionversion=83e445e64f48bdae3f25013e788fcf592f142576 <6de4ef950dd56a6a81daf92d8a1d864fc6a56971
  4. Affected versionversion=83e445e64f48bdae3f25013e788fcf592f142576 <cc51a66815999afb7e9cd845968de4fdf07567b7
  5. Affected versionversion=83e445e64f48bdae3f25013e788fcf592f142576 <cf4fc23d0d3d5b89b36f0d79f2674510bb574d8e

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=6.12; version=83e445e64f48bdae3f25013e788fcf592f142576 <37f26b9013b46457b0a96633fc3a7dc977d8beb1; version=83e445e64f48bdae3f25013e788fcf592f142576 <6de4ef950dd56a6a81daf92d8a1d864fc6a56971; version=83e445e64f48bdae3f25013e788fcf592f142576 <cc51a66815999afb7e9cd845968de4fdf07567b7; version=83e445e64f48bdae3f25013e788fcf592f142576 <cf4fc23d0d3d5b89b36f0d79f2674510bb574d8e

Published CVSS scores

7.0Amazon LinuxCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
5.5UbuntuCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
5.5OracleCVSS: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 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 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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