CVE-2025-38097 Affecting kernel-default-livepatch package, versions <6.4.0-150600.23.65.1


Severity

Recommended
0.0
medium
0
10

Based on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server security rating.

Threat Intelligence

EPSS
0.03% (7th percentile)

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  • Snyk IDSNYK-SLES156-KERNELDEFAULTLIVEPATCH-12217180
  • published28 Aug 2025
  • disclosed27 Aug 2025

Introduced: 27 Aug 2025

NewCVE-2025-38097  (opens in a new tab)

How to fix?

Upgrade SLES:15.6 kernel-default-livepatch to version 6.4.0-150600.23.65.1 or higher.

NVD Description

Note: Versions mentioned in the description apply only to the upstream kernel-default-livepatch package and not the kernel-default-livepatch package as distributed by SLES. See How to fix? for SLES:15.6 relevant fixed versions and status.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

espintcp: remove encap socket caching to avoid reference leak

The current scheme for caching the encap socket can lead to reference leaks when we try to delete the netns.

The reference chain is: xfrm_state -> enacp_sk -> netns

Since the encap socket is a userspace socket, it holds a reference on the netns. If we delete the espintcp state (through flush or individual delete) before removing the netns, the reference on the socket is dropped and the netns is correctly deleted. Otherwise, the netns may not be reachable anymore (if all processes within the ns have terminated), so we cannot delete the xfrm state to drop its reference on the socket.

This patch results in a small (~2% in my tests) performance regression.

A GC-type mechanism could be added for the socket cache, to clear references if the state hasn't been used "recently", but it's a lot more complex than just not caching the socket.

CVSS Base Scores

version 3.1