What is CVE-2025-38546?

CVE-2025-38546 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), affecting Linux kernel versions from 2.6.12 onward and patched in 5.4.296, 5.10.240, 5.15.189 and others. CVE-2025-38546 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-38546?

CVE-2025-38546 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-2025-38546?

Yes, CVE-2025-38546 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.4.296, 5.10.240, 5.15.189 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 2.6.12 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2025-38546 actively exploited?

CVE-2025-38546 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is Memory Leak (CWE-401)?

The product does not release memory after use, causing gradual resource exhaustion. See MITRE CWE for full details: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/401.html

CVE-2025-38546

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: atm: clip: Fix memory leak of struct clip_vcc. ioctl(ATMARP_MKIP) allocates struct clip_vcc and set it to vcc->user_back. The code assumes that vcc_destroy_socket() passes NULL skb to vcc->push() when the socket is close()d, and then clip_push() frees clip_vcc. However, ioctl(ATMARPD_CTRL) sets NULL to vcc->push() in atm_init_atmarp(), resulting in memory leak. Let's serialise two ioctl() by lock_sock() and check vcc->push() in atm_init_atmarp() to prevent memleak.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2025-08-16

Last modified 2026-01-07

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-401

CVE-2025-38546 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 2.6.12 and later are affected. Fixed in 5.4.296, 5.10.240, 5.15.189, 6.1.146, 6.6.99, 6.12.39, 6.15.7, 6.16 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 2.6.12

Fixed in

✓ 5.4.296 5.4.x ✓ 5.10.240 5.10.x ✓ 5.15.189 5.15.x ✓ 6.1.146 6.1.x ✓ 6.6.99 6.6.x ✓ 6.12.39 6.12.x ✓ 6.15.7 6.15.x ✓ 6.16

References

10 total

Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0c17ff462d98c997d707ee5cf4e4a9b1b52b9d90

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1c075e88d5859a2c6b43b27e0e46fb281cef8039

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1fb9fb5a4b5cec2d56e26525ef8c519de858fa60

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2fb37ab3226606cbfc9b2b6f9e301b0b735734c5

Patch
Kernel Git
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/62dba28275a9a3104d4e33595c7b3328d4032d8d

Patch

Showing 5 of 10 references View all on NVD

Details

CVE ID CVE-2025-38546

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2025-08-16

Modified 2026-01-07

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-38546?

CVE-2025-38546 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 2.6.12 onward and has been patched in 5.4.296, 5.10.240, 5.15.189 and others. CVE-2025-38546 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-38546?

CVE-2025-38546 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-2025-38546?

Yes. CVE-2025-38546 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.4.296, 5.10.240, 5.15.189 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 2.6.12 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2025-38546 actively exploited?

No. CVE-2025-38546 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.