CVE-2025-38345
MediumIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ACPICA: fix acpi operand cache leak in dswstate.c ACPICA commit 987a3b5cf7175916e2a4b6ea5b8e70f830dfe732 I found an ACPI cache leak in ACPI early termination and boot continuing case. When early termination occurs due to malicious ACPI table, Linux kernel terminates ACPI function and continues to boot process. While kernel terminates ACPI function, kmem_cache_destroy() reports Acpi-Operand cache leak. Boot log of ACPI operand cache leak is as follows: >[ 0.585957] ACPI: Added _OSI(Module Device) >[ 0.587218] ACPI: Added _OSI(Processor Device) >[ 0.588530] ACPI: Added _OSI(3.0 _SCP Extensions) >[ 0.589790] ACPI: Added _OSI(Processor Aggregator Device) >[ 0.591534] ACPI Error: Illegal I/O port address/length above 64K: C806E00000004002/0x2 (20170303/hwvalid-155) >[ 0.594351] ACPI Exception: AE_LIMIT, Unable to initialize fixed events (20170303/evevent-88) >[ 0.597858] ACPI: Unable to start the ACPI Interpreter >[ 0.599162] ACPI Error: Could not remove SCI handler (20170303/evmisc-281) >[ 0.601836] kmem_cache_destroy Acpi-Operand: Slab cache still has objects >[ 0.603556] CPU: 0 PID: 1 Comm: swapper/0 Not tainted 4.12.0-rc5 #26 >[ 0.605159] Hardware name: innotek gmb_h virtual_box/virtual_box, BIOS virtual_box 12/01/2006 >[ 0.609177] Call Trace: >[ 0.610063] ? dump_stack+0x5c/0x81 >[ 0.611118] ? kmem_cache_destroy+0x1aa/0x1c0 >[ 0.612632] ? acpi_sleep_proc_init+0x27/0x27 >[ 0.613906] ? acpi_os_delete_cache+0xa/0x10 >[ 0.617986] ? acpi_ut_delete_caches+0x3f/0x7b >[ 0.619293] ? acpi_terminate+0xa/0x14 >[ 0.620394] ? acpi_init+0x2af/0x34f >[ 0.621616] ? __class_create+0x4c/0x80 >[ 0.623412] ? video_setup+0x7f/0x7f >[ 0.624585] ? acpi_sleep_proc_init+0x27/0x27 >[ 0.625861] ? do_one_initcall+0x4e/0x1a0 >[ 0.627513] ? kernel_init_freeable+0x19e/0x21f >[ 0.628972] ? rest_init+0x80/0x80 >[ 0.630043] ? kernel_init+0xa/0x100 >[ 0.631084] ? ret_from_fork+0x25/0x30 >[ 0.633343] vgaarb: loaded >[ 0.635036] EDAC MC: Ver: 3.0.0 >[ 0.638601] PCI: Probing PCI hardware >[ 0.639833] PCI host bridge to bus 0000:00 >[ 0.641031] pci_bus 0000:00: root bus resource [io 0x0000-0xffff] > ... Continue to boot and log is omitted ... I analyzed this memory leak in detail and found acpi_ds_obj_stack_pop_and_ delete() function miscalculated the top of the stack. acpi_ds_obj_stack_push() function uses walk_state->operand_index for start position of the top, but acpi_ds_obj_stack_pop_and_delete() function considers index 0 for it. Therefore, this causes acpi operand memory leak. This cache leak causes a security threat because an old kernel (<= 4.9) shows memory locations of kernel functions in stack dump. Some malicious users could use this information to neutralize kernel ASLR. I made a patch to fix ACPI operand cache leak.
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-401CVE-2025-38345 is a Memory Leak vulnerability
What is Memory Leak?
The product does not release memory after use, causing gradual resource exhaustion. Learn more on MITRE CWE
Affected versions
Linux kernel versions
2.6.26
and later are affected. Fixed in
5.4.295,
5.10.239,
5.15.186,
6.1.142,
6.6.95,
6.12.35,
6.15.4,
6.16
and their respective stable series.
References
The following references provide additional information about CVE-2025-38345 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/156fd20a41e776bbf334bd5e45c4f78dfc90ce1c
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PatchKernel patch commithttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1c0d9115a001979cb446ba5e8331dd1d29a10bbf
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PatchKernel patch commithttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4fa430a8bca708c7776f6b9d001257f48b19a5b7
Frequently asked questions
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What is CVE-2025-38345?
CVE-2025-38345 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 , classified as a Memory Leak flaw (CWE-401) . It affects Linux kernel versions from 2.6.26 onward and has been patched in 5.4.295, 5.10.239, 5.15.186 and others. CVE-2025-38345 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-2025-38345?
CVE-2025-38345 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-2025-38345?
Yes — CVE-2025-38345 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.4.295, 5.10.239, 5.15.186 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 2.6.26 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
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Is CVE-2025-38345 actively exploited?
No — CVE-2025-38345 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.
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What is Memory Leak (CWE-401)?
The product does not release memory after use, causing gradual resource exhaustion. View CWE-401 on MITRE CWE →