CVE-2025-38666 Vulnerability Analysis & Exploit Details

CVE-2025-38666
Vulnerability Scoring

Analysis In Progress
Analysis In Progress

Attack Complexity Details

  • Attack Complexity:
    Attack Complexity Analysis In Progress
  • Attack Vector:
    Attack Vector Under Analysis
  • Privileges Required: None
    No authentication is required for exploitation.
  • Scope:
    Impact is confined to the initially vulnerable component.
  • User Interaction: None
    No user interaction is necessary for exploitation.

CVE-2025-38666 Details

Status: Awaiting Analysis

Last updated: 🕒 28 Aug 2025, 15:15 UTC
Originally published on: 🕓 22 Aug 2025, 16:15 UTC

Time between publication and last update: 5 days

CVSS Release:

CVE-2025-38666 Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2025-38666: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: appletalk: Fix use-after-free in AARP proxy probe The AARP proxy‐probe routine (aarp_proxy_probe_network) sends a probe, releases the aarp_lock, sleeps, then re-acquires the lock. During that window an expire timer thread (__aarp_expire_timer) can remove and kfree() the same entry, leading to a use-after-free. race condition: cpu 0 | cpu 1 atalk_sendmsg() | atif_proxy_probe_device() aarp_send_ddp() | aarp_proxy_probe_network() mod_timer() | lock(aarp_lock) // LOCK!! timeout around 200ms | alloc(aarp_entry) and then call | proxies[hash] = aarp_entry aarp_expire_timeout() | aarp_send_probe() | unlock(aarp_lock) // UNLOCK!! lock(aarp_lock) // LOCK!! | msleep(100); __aarp_expire_timer(&proxies[ct]) | free(aarp_entry) | unlock(aarp_lock) // UNLOCK!! | | lock(aarp_lock) // LOCK!! | UAF aarp_entry !! ================================================================== BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in aarp_proxy_probe_network+0x560/0x630 net/appletalk/aarp.c:493 Read of size 4 at addr ffff8880123aa360 by task repro/13278 CPU: 3 UID: 0 PID: 13278 Comm: repro Not tainted 6.15.2 #3 PREEMPT(full) Call Trace: <TASK> __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:94 [inline] dump_stack_lvl+0x116/0x1b0 lib/dump_stack.c:120 print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:408 [inline] print_report+0xc1/0x630 mm/kasan/report.c:521 kasan_report+0xca/0x100 mm/kasan/report.c:634 aarp_proxy_probe_network+0x560/0x630 net/appletalk/aarp.c:493 atif_proxy_probe_device net/appletalk/ddp.c:332 [inline] atif_ioctl+0xb58/0x16c0 net/appletalk/ddp.c:857 atalk_ioctl+0x198/0x2f0 net/appletalk/ddp.c:1818 sock_do_ioctl+0xdc/0x260 net/socket.c:1190 sock_ioctl+0x239/0x6a0 net/socket.c:1311 vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline] __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:906 [inline] __se_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:892 [inline] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x194/0x200 fs/ioctl.c:892 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xcb/0x250 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f </TASK> Allocated: aarp_alloc net/appletalk/aarp.c:382 [inline] aarp_proxy_probe_network+0xd8/0x630 net/appletalk/aarp.c:468 atif_proxy_probe_device net/appletalk/ddp.c:332 [inline] atif_ioctl+0xb58/0x16c0 net/appletalk/ddp.c:857 atalk_ioctl+0x198/0x2f0 net/appletalk/ddp.c:1818 Freed: kfree+0x148/0x4d0 mm/slub.c:4841 __aarp_expire net/appletalk/aarp.c:90 [inline] __aarp_expire_timer net/appletalk/aarp.c:261 [inline] aarp_expire_timeout+0x480/0x6e0 net/appletalk/aarp.c:317 The buggy address belongs to the object at ffff8880123aa300 which belongs to the cache kmalloc-192 of size 192 The buggy address is located 96 bytes inside of freed 192-byte region [ffff8880123aa300, ffff8880123aa3c0) Memory state around the buggy address: ffff8880123aa200: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ffff8880123aa280: 00 00 00 00 fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc >ffff8880123aa300: fa fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb ^ ffff8880123aa380: fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fb fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc ffff8880123aa400: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ==================================================================

Assessing the Risk of CVE-2025-38666

Access Complexity Graph

The exploitability of CVE-2025-38666 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).

Exploitability Analysis for CVE-2025-38666

No exploitability data is available for CVE-2025-38666.

Understanding AC and PR

A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.

Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.

Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.

CVSS Score Breakdown Chart

Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2025-38666, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.

CIA Impact Analysis

Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2025-38666, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.

  • Confidentiality: None
    CVE-2025-38666 does not compromise confidentiality.
  • Integrity: None
    CVE-2025-38666 does not impact data integrity.
  • Availability: None
    CVE-2025-38666 does not affect system availability.

CVE-2025-38666 References

External References

CWE Common Weakness Enumeration

Unknown

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