What is CVE-2025-38173?

CVE-2025-38173 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, affecting Linux kernel versions from 4.2 onward and patched in 5.4.295, 5.10.239, 5.15.186 and others. CVE-2025-38173 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-38173?

CVE-2025-38173 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity. 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-2025-38173?

Yes, CVE-2025-38173 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.4.295, 5.10.239, 5.15.186 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.

Is CVE-2025-38173 actively exploited?

CVE-2025-38173 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

CVE-2025-38173

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: crypto: marvell/cesa - Handle zero-length skcipher requests Do not access random memory for zero-length skcipher requests. Just return 0.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2025-07-03

Last modified 2025-12-18

CVSS version 3.1

Patch available

Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

5.5

out of 10

Medium

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Vector string

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 4.2 and later are affected. Fixed in 5.4.295, 5.10.239, 5.15.186, 6.1.142, 6.6.94, 6.12.34, 6.15.3, 6.16 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 4.2

Fixed in

✓ 5.4.295 5.4.x ✓ 5.10.239 5.10.x ✓ 5.15.186 5.15.x ✓ 6.1.142 6.1.x ✓ 6.6.94 6.6.x ✓ 6.12.34 6.12.x ✓ 6.15.3 6.15.x ✓ 6.16

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2025-38173 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Debian Security
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00007.html

Third Party Advisory
Debian Security
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html

Third Party Advisory
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/32d3e8049a8b60f18c5c39f5931bfb1130ac11c9
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5e9666ac8b94c978690f937d59170c5237bd2c45
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7894694b5d5b2ecfd7fb081d6f60b9e169ab4d13
Patch

8 patch commits total View all on NVD

Details

CVE ID CVE-2025-38173

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2025-07-03

Modified 2025-12-18

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-38173?

CVE-2025-38173 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 5.4.295, 5.10.239, 5.15.186 and others. CVE-2025-38173 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-38173?

CVE-2025-38173 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-2025-38173?

Yes — CVE-2025-38173 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.4.295, 5.10.239, 5.15.186 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.
Is CVE-2025-38173 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2025-38173 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.