CVE-2025-38066
MediumIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dm cache: prevent BUG_ON by blocking retries on failed device resumes A cache device failing to resume due to mapping errors should not be retried, as the failure leaves a partially initialized policy object. Repeating the resume operation risks triggering BUG_ON when reloading cache mappings into the incomplete policy object. Reproduce steps: 1. create a cache metadata consisting of 512 or more cache blocks, with some mappings stored in the first array block of the mapping array. Here we use cache_restore v1.0 to build the metadata. cat <<EOF >> cmeta.xml <superblock uuid="" block_size="128" nr_cache_blocks="512" \ policy="smq" hint_width="4"> <mappings> <mapping cache_block="0" origin_block="0" dirty="false"/> </mappings> </superblock> EOF dmsetup create cmeta --table "0 8192 linear /dev/sdc 0" cache_restore -i cmeta.xml -o /dev/mapper/cmeta --metadata-version=2 dmsetup remove cmeta 2. wipe the second array block of the mapping array to simulate data degradations. mapping_root=$(dd if=/dev/sdc bs=1c count=8 skip=192 \ 2>/dev/null | hexdump -e '1/8 "%u\n"') ablock=$(dd if=/dev/sdc bs=1c count=8 skip=$((4096*mapping_root+2056)) \ 2>/dev/null | hexdump -e '1/8 "%u\n"') dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdc bs=4k count=1 seek=$ablock 3. try bringing up the cache device. The resume is expected to fail due to the broken array block. dmsetup create cmeta --table "0 8192 linear /dev/sdc 0" dmsetup create cdata --table "0 65536 linear /dev/sdc 8192" dmsetup create corig --table "0 524288 linear /dev/sdc 262144" dmsetup create cache --notable dmsetup load cache --table "0 524288 cache /dev/mapper/cmeta \ /dev/mapper/cdata /dev/mapper/corig 128 2 metadata2 writethrough smq 0" dmsetup resume cache 4. try resuming the cache again. An unexpected BUG_ON is triggered while loading cache mappings. dmsetup resume cache Kernel logs: (snip) ------------[ cut here ]------------ kernel BUG at drivers/md/dm-cache-policy-smq.c:752! Oops: invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN NOPTI CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 332 Comm: dmsetup Not tainted 6.13.4 #3 RIP: 0010:smq_load_mapping+0x3e5/0x570 Fix by disallowing resume operations for devices that failed the initial attempt.
CVSS 3.1 score
5.5
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness type
CWE-617CVE-2025-38066 is classified as CWE-617
See CWE-617 on MITRE CWE for full details on this weakness type.
Affected versions
Linux kernel versions
4.2
and later are affected. Fixed in
5.4.294,
5.10.238,
5.15.185,
6.1.141,
6.6.93,
6.12.31,
6.14.9,
6.15
and their respective stable series.
References
The following references provide additional information about CVE-2025-38066 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.
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Third Party Advisory
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Third Party Advisory
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PatchKernel patch commithttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/00586b78eeb7c626a14ca13453a1631f88a7cf36
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PatchKernel patch commithttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/025c8f477625eb39006ded650e7d027bcfb20e79
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PatchKernel patch commithttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3986ef4a9b6a0d9c28bc325d8713beba5e67586f
Frequently asked questions
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What is CVE-2025-38066?
CVE-2025-38066 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 4.2 onward and has been patched in 5.4.294, 5.10.238, 5.15.185 and others. CVE-2025-38066 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
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What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-38066?
CVE-2025-38066 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H. -
Is there a patch available for CVE-2025-38066?
Yes — CVE-2025-38066 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.4.294, 5.10.238, 5.15.185 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 4.2 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
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Is CVE-2025-38066 actively exploited?
No — CVE-2025-38066 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.