CVE-2025-38491

  • Published: 2025-07-28T12:15:31.240

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

mptcp: make fallback action and fallback decision atomic

Syzkaller reported the following splat:

WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 7704 at net/mptcp/protocol.h:1223 __mptcp_do_fallback net/mptcp/protocol.h:1223 [inline]
WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 7704 at net/mptcp/protocol.h:1223 mptcp_do_fallback net/mptcp/protocol.h:1244 [inline]
WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 7704 at net/mptcp/protocol.h:1223 check_fully_established net/mptcp/options.c:982 [inline]
WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 7704 at net/mptcp/protocol.h:1223 mptcp_incoming_options+0x21a8/0x2510 net/mptcp/options.c:1153
Modules linked in:
CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 7704 Comm: syz.3.1419 Not tainted 6.16.0-rc3-gbd5ce2324dba #20 PREEMPT(voluntary)
Hardware name: QEMU Ubuntu 24.04 PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014
RIP: 0010:__mptcp_do_fallback net/mptcp/protocol.h:1223 [inline]
RIP: 0010:mptcp_do_fallback net/mptcp/protocol.h:1244 [inline]
RIP: 0010:check_fully_established net/mptcp/options.c:982 [inline]
RIP: 0010:mptcp_incoming_options+0x21a8/0x2510 net/mptcp/options.c:1153
Code: 24 18 e8 bb 2a 00 fd e9 1b df ff ff e8 b1 21 0f 00 e8 ec 5f c4 fc 44 0f b7 ac 24 b0 00 00 00 e9 54 f1 ff ff e8 d9 5f c4 fc 90 0b 90 e9 b8 f4 ff ff e8 8b 2a 00 fd e9 8d e6 ff ff e8 81 2a 00
RSP: 0018:ffff8880a3f08448 EFLAGS: 00010246
RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff8880180a8000 RCX: ffffffff84afcf45
RDX: ffff888090223700 RSI: ffffffff84afdaa7 RDI: 0000000000000001
RBP: ffff888017955780 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: 0000000000000000
R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: 0000000000000000
R13: ffff8880180a8910 R14: ffff8880a3e9d058 R15: 0000000000000000
FS: 00005555791b8500(0000) GS:ffff88811c495000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
CR2: 000000110c2800b7 CR3: 0000000058e44000 CR4: 0000000000350ef0
Call Trace:

tcp_reset+0x26f/0x2b0 net/ipv4/tcp_input.c:4432
tcp_validate_incoming+0x1057/0x1b60 net/ipv4/tcp_input.c:5975
tcp_rcv_established+0x5b5/0x21f0 net/ipv4/tcp_input.c:6166
tcp_v4_do_rcv+0x5dc/0xa70 net/ipv4/tcp_ipv4.c:1925
tcp_v4_rcv+0x3473/0x44a0 net/ipv4/tcp_ipv4.c:2363
ip_protocol_deliver_rcu+0xba/0x480 net/ipv4/ip_input.c:205
ip_local_deliver_finish+0x2f1/0x500 net/ipv4/ip_input.c:233
NF_HOOK include/linux/netfilter.h:317 [inline]
NF_HOOK include/linux/netfilter.h:311 [inline]
ip_local_deliver+0x1be/0x560 net/ipv4/ip_input.c:254
dst_input include/net/dst.h:469 [inline]
ip_rcv_finish net/ipv4/ip_input.c:447 [inline]
NF_HOOK include/linux/netfilter.h:317 [inline]
NF_HOOK include/linux/netfilter.h:311 [inline]
ip_rcv+0x514/0x810 net/ipv4/ip_input.c:567
__netif_receive_skb_one_core+0x197/0x1e0 net/core/dev.c:5975
__netif_receive_skb+0x1f/0x120 net/core/dev.c:6088
process_backlog+0x301/0x1360 net/core/dev.c:6440
__napi_poll.constprop.0+0xba/0x550 net/core/dev.c:7453
napi_poll net/core/dev.c:7517 [inline]
net_rx_action+0xb44/0x1010 net/core/dev.c:7644
handle_softirqs+0x1d0/0x770 kernel/softirq.c:579
do_softirq+0x3f/0x90 kernel/softirq.c:480

__local_bh_enable_ip+0xed/0x110 kernel/softirq.c:407
local_bh_enable include/linux/bottom_half.h:33 [inline]
inet_csk_listen_stop+0x2c5/0x1070 net/ipv4/inet_connection_sock.c:1524
mptcp_check_listen_stop.part.0+0x1cc/0x220 net/mptcp/protocol.c:2985
mptcp_check_listen_stop net/mptcp/mib.h:118 [inline]
__mptcp_close+0x9b9/0xbd0 net/mptcp/protocol.c:3000
mptcp_close+0x2f/0x140 net/mptcp/protocol.c:3066
inet_release+0xed/0x200 net/ipv4/af_inet.c:435
inet6_release+0x4f/0x70 net/ipv6/af_inet6.c:487
__sock_release+0xb3/0x270 net/socket.c:649
sock_close+0x1c/0x30 net/socket.c:1439
__fput+0x402/0xb70 fs/file_table.c:465
task_work_run+0x150/0x240 kernel/task_work.c:227
resume_user_mode_work include/linux/resume_user_mode.h:50 [inline]
exit_to_user_mode_loop+0xd4
—truncated—

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How to fix CVE-2025-38491

CVE-2025-38491 is a unknown severity vulnerability affecting the affected product.

Description: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mptcp: make fallback action and fallback decision atomic Syzkaller reported the following splat: WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 7704 at net/mptcp/protocol.h:1223 __mptcp_do_fallback net/mptcp/protocol.h:1223 [inline] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 7704 at net/mptcp/protocol.h:1223 mptcp_do_fallback net/mptcp/protocol.h:1244 [inline] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 7704 at net/mptcp/protocol.h:1223 check_fully_established net/mptcp/options.c:982 [inline] WARNING: CPU: […]

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.