CVE-2025-38476

  • Published: 2025-07-28T12:15:29.483

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

rpl: Fix use-after-free in rpl_do_srh_inline().

Running lwt_dst_cache_ref_loop.sh in selftest with KASAN triggers
the splat below [0].

rpl_do_srh_inline() fetches ipv6_hdr(skb) and accesses it after
skb_cow_head(), which is illegal as the header could be freed then.

Let’s fix it by making oldhdr to a local struct instead of a pointer.

[0]:
[root@fedora net]# ./lwt_dst_cache_ref_loop.sh

TEST: rpl (input)
[ 57.631529] ==================================================================
BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in rpl_do_srh_inline.isra.0 (net/ipv6/rpl_iptunnel.c:174)
Read of size 40 at addr ffff888122bf96d8 by task ping6/1543

CPU: 50 UID: 0 PID: 1543 Comm: ping6 Not tainted 6.16.0-rc5-01302-gfadd1e6231b1 #23 PREEMPT(voluntary)
Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014
Call Trace:

dump_stack_lvl (lib/dump_stack.c:122)
print_report (mm/kasan/report.c:409 mm/kasan/report.c:521)
kasan_report (mm/kasan/report.c:221 mm/kasan/report.c:636)
kasan_check_range (mm/kasan/generic.c:175 (discriminator 1) mm/kasan/generic.c:189 (discriminator 1))
__asan_memmove (mm/kasan/shadow.c:94 (discriminator 2))
rpl_do_srh_inline.isra.0 (net/ipv6/rpl_iptunnel.c:174)
rpl_input (net/ipv6/rpl_iptunnel.c:201 net/ipv6/rpl_iptunnel.c:282)
lwtunnel_input (net/core/lwtunnel.c:459)
ipv6_rcv (./include/net/dst.h:471 (discriminator 1) ./include/net/dst.h:469 (discriminator 1) net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:79 (discriminator 1) ./include/linux/netfilter.h:317 (discriminator 1) ./include/linux/netfilter.h:311 (discriminator 1) net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:311 (discriminator 1))
__netif_receive_skb_one_core (net/core/dev.c:5967)
process_backlog (./include/linux/rcupdate.h:869 net/core/dev.c:6440)
__napi_poll.constprop.0 (net/core/dev.c:7452)
net_rx_action (net/core/dev.c:7518 net/core/dev.c:7643)
handle_softirqs (kernel/softirq.c:579)
do_softirq (kernel/softirq.c:480 (discriminator 20))

__local_bh_enable_ip (kernel/softirq.c:407)
__dev_queue_xmit (net/core/dev.c:4740)
ip6_finish_output2 (./include/linux/netdevice.h:3358 ./include/net/neighbour.h:526 ./include/net/neighbour.h:540 net/ipv6/ip6_output.c:141)
ip6_finish_output (net/ipv6/ip6_output.c:215 net/ipv6/ip6_output.c:226)
ip6_output (./include/linux/netfilter.h:306 net/ipv6/ip6_output.c:248)
ip6_send_skb (net/ipv6/ip6_output.c:1983)
rawv6_sendmsg (net/ipv6/raw.c:588 net/ipv6/raw.c:918)
__sys_sendto (net/socket.c:714 (discriminator 1) net/socket.c:729 (discriminator 1) net/socket.c:2228 (discriminator 1))
__x64_sys_sendto (net/socket.c:2231)
do_syscall_64 (arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 (discriminator 1) arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94 (discriminator 1))
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:130)
RIP: 0033:0x7f68cffb2a06
Code: 5d e8 41 8b 93 08 03 00 00 59 5e 48 83 f8 fc 75 19 83 e2 39 83 fa 08 75 11 e8 26 ff ff ff 66 0f 1f 44 00 00 48 8b 45 10 0f 05 8b 5d f8 c9 c3 0f 1f 40 00 f3 0f 1e fa 55 48 89 e5 48 83 ec 08
RSP: 002b:00007ffefb7c53d0 EFLAGS: 00000202 ORIG_RAX: 000000000000002c
RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000564cd69f10a0 RCX: 00007f68cffb2a06
RDX: 0000000000000040 RSI: 0000564cd69f10a4 RDI: 0000000000000003
RBP: 00007ffefb7c53f0 R08: 0000564cd6a032ac R09: 000000000000001c
R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000202 R12: 0000564cd69f10a4
R13: 0000000000000040 R14: 00007ffefb7c66e0 R15: 0000564cd69f10a0

Allocated by task 1543:
kasan_save_stack (mm/kasan/common.c:48)
kasan_save_track (mm/kasan/common.c:60 (discriminator 1) mm/kasan/common.c:69 (discriminator 1))
__kasan_slab_alloc (mm/kasan/common.c:319 mm/kasan/common.c:345)
kmem_cache_alloc_node_noprof (./include/linux/kasan.h:250 mm/slub.c:4148 mm/slub.c:4197 mm/slub.c:4249)
kmalloc_reserve (net/core/skbuff.c:581 (discriminator 88))
__alloc_skb (net/core/skbuff.c:669)
__ip6_append_data (net/ipv6/ip6_output.c:1672 (discriminator 1))
ip6_
—truncated—

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How to fix CVE-2025-38476

CVE-2025-38476 is a unknown severity vulnerability affecting the affected product.

Description: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: rpl: Fix use-after-free in rpl_do_srh_inline(). Running lwt_dst_cache_ref_loop.sh in selftest with KASAN triggers the splat below [0]. rpl_do_srh_inline() fetches ipv6_hdr(skb) and accesses it after skb_cow_head(), which is illegal as the header could be freed then. Let’s fix it by making oldhdr to a local struct instead […]

Exploit Difficulty: HARD
⏱️ Time to exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Required skills: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public exploits: Rare or not public

How to Fix:

1 Identify affected systems

- Check if you're running the affected product

2 Immediate actions

- Update to the latest patched version
- If patching is not immediately possible: restrict network exposure, apply least-privilege access

3 Verification

- Test the fix in a staging environment first
- Review logs for signs of exploitation
- Monitor for IOCs (Indicators of Compromise)

4 Long-term prevention

- Enable automatic security updates
- Set up vulnerability monitoring
- Review and harden security configurations

Exploit Difficulty Assessment

HARD
⏱️ Time to Exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Skills Required: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public Exploits: Rare or not public

Vulnerability Timeline

Jul 28, 2025
Vulnerability Published

CVE details first published to NVD database

Nov 12, 2025
Imported to Database

Added to this CVE tracking system

Detection Rules & IOCs

No specific detection rules generated for this vulnerability type.

No vendor/product data available.