CVE-2025-38185: linux kernel vulnerability

What is known

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: atm: atmtcp: Free invalid length skb in atmtcp_c_send(). syzbot reported the splat below. [0] vcc_sendmsg() copies data passed from userspace to skb and passes it to vcc->dev->ops->send(). atmtcp_c_send() accesses skb->data as struct atmtcp_hdr after checking if skb->len is 0, but it's not enough. Also, when skb->len == 0, skb and sk (vcc) were leaked because dev_kfree_skb() is not called and sk_wmem_alloc adjustment is missing to revert atm_account_tx() in vcc_sendmsg(), which is expected to be done in atm_pop_raw(). Let's properly free skb with an invalid length in atmtcp_c_send(). [0]: BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in atmtcp_c_send+0x255/0xed0 drivers/atm/atmtcp.c:294 atmtcp_c_send+0x255/0xed0 drivers/atm/atmtcp.c:294 vcc_sendmsg+0xd7c/0xff0 net/atm/common.c:644 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:712 [inline] __sock_sendmsg+0x330/0x3d0 net/socket.c:727 ____sys_sendmsg+0x7e0/0xd80 net/socket.c:2566 ___sys_sendmsg+0x271/0x3b0 net/socket.c:2620 __sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2652 [inline] __do_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2657 [inline] __se_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2655 [inline] __x64_sys_sendmsg+0x211/0x3e0 net/socket.c:2655 x64_sys_call+0x32fb/0x3db0 arch/x86/include/generated/asm/syscalls_64.h:47 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xd9/0x210 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f Uninit was created at: slab_post_alloc_hook mm/slub.c:4154 [inline] slab_alloc_node mm/slub.c:4197 [inline] kmem_cache_alloc_node_noprof+0x818/0xf00 mm/slub.c:4249 kmalloc_reserve+0x13c/0x4b0 net/core/skbuff.c:579 __alloc_skb+0x347/0x7d0 net/core/skbuff.c:670 alloc_skb include/linux/skbuff.h:1336 [inline] vcc_sendmsg+0xb40/0xff0 net/atm/common.c:628 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:712 [inline] __sock_sendmsg+0x330/0x3d0 net/socket.c:727 ____sys_sendmsg+0x7e0/0xd80 net/socket.c:2566 ___sys_sendmsg+0x271/0x3b0 net/socket.c:2620 __sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2652 [inline] __do_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2657 [inline] __se_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2655 [inline] __x64_sys_sendmsg+0x211/0x3e0 net/socket.c:2655 x64_sys_call+0x32fb/0x3db0 arch/x86/include/generated/asm/syscalls_64.h:47 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xd9/0x210 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 5798 Comm: syz-executor192 Not tainted 6.16.0-rc1-syzkaller-00010-g2c4a1f3fe03e #0 PREEMPT(undef) Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 05/07/2025

Business impact

Successful exploitation of CVE-2025-38185, a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.5) affecting linux kernel, may affect the confidentiality, integrity or availability of the vulnerable environment. The exact impact depends on the installed version, exposed interfaces and deployment configuration.

Recommended administrator action

Confirm whether linux kernel is present and compare installed versions with the vendor advisory and NVD record. Apply the vendor patch or documented mitigation; until remediation is complete, reduce exposure of affected interfaces, review relevant logs and monitor for indicators of exploitation. DataHouse can support version verification, managed patching, network exposure reduction, log review and backup validation for dedicated, cloud and colocated environments.

Sources

• NVD
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