What is CVE-2025-38436?

CVE-2025-38436 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, classified as a Improper Locking flaw (CWE-667), affecting Linux kernel versions from 4.3 onward and patched in 6.1.169, 6.6.96, 6.12.36 and others. CVE-2025-38436 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-38436?

CVE-2025-38436 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-2025-38436?

Yes, CVE-2025-38436 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.1.169, 6.6.96, 6.12.36 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 4.3 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2025-38436 actively exploited?

CVE-2025-38436 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is Improper Locking (CWE-667)?

The product does not properly acquire or release a lock, which can lead to unexpected behaviour. See MITRE CWE for full details: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/667.html

CVE-2025-38436

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/scheduler: signal scheduled fence when kill job When an entity from application B is killed, drm_sched_entity_kill() removes all jobs belonging to that entity through drm_sched_entity_kill_jobs_work(). If application A's job depends on a scheduled fence from application B's job, and that fence is not properly signaled during the killing process, application A's dependency cannot be cleared. This leads to application A hanging indefinitely while waiting for a dependency that will never be resolved. Fix this issue by ensuring that scheduled fences are properly signaled when an entity is killed, allowing dependent applications to continue execution.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2025-07-25

Last modified 2026-04-18

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

Weakness type

CWE-667

CVE-2025-38436 is a Improper Locking vulnerability

What is Improper Locking?

The product does not properly acquire or release a lock, which can lead to unexpected behaviour. Learn more on MITRE CWE

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 4.3 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.1.169, 6.6.96, 6.12.36, 6.15.5, 6.16 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 4.3

Fixed in

✓ 6.1.169 6.1.x ✓ 6.6.96 6.6.x ✓ 6.12.36 6.12.x ✓ 6.15.5 6.15.x ✓ 6.16

References

5 total

Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/471db2c2d4f80ee94225a1ef246e4f5011733e50

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/aa382a8b6ed483e9812d0e63b6d1bdcba0186f29

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/aefd0a935625165a6ca36d0258d2d053901555df

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c5734f9bab6f0d40577ad0633af4090a5fda2407

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8342127a8a65b0673863b106ce32b79c91ae3270

Details

CVE ID CVE-2025-38436

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2025-07-25

Modified 2026-04-18

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-38436?

CVE-2025-38436 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 , classified as an Improper Locking flaw (CWE-667) . It affects Linux kernel versions from 4.3 onward and has been patched in 6.1.169, 6.6.96, 6.12.36 and others. CVE-2025-38436 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-38436?

CVE-2025-38436 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-2025-38436?

Yes. CVE-2025-38436 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.1.169, 6.6.96, 6.12.36 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 4.3 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2025-38436 actively exploited?

No. CVE-2025-38436 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.