What is CVE-2025-38549?

CVE-2025-38549 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 6.7 onward and patched in 6.12.40, 6.15.8 and 6.16. CVE-2025-38549 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-38549?

CVE-2025-38549 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-2025-38549?

Yes, CVE-2025-38549 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.12.40, 6.15.8 and 6.16. If you are running Linux kernel 6.7 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2025-38549 actively exploited?

CVE-2025-38549 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-2025-38549

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: efivarfs: Fix memory leak of efivarfs_fs_info in fs_context error paths When processing mount options, efivarfs allocates efivarfs_fs_info (sfi) early in fs_context initialization. However, sfi is associated with the superblock and typically freed when the superblock is destroyed. If the fs_context is released (final put) before fill_super is called—such as on error paths or during reconfiguration—the sfi structure would leak, as ownership never transfers to the superblock. Implement the .free callback in efivarfs_context_ops to ensure any allocated sfi is properly freed if the fs_context is torn down before fill_super, preventing this memory leak.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2025-08-16

Last modified 2025-11-18

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-401

CVE-2025-38549 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 6.7 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.12.40, 6.15.8, 6.16 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 6.7

Fixed in

✓ 6.12.40 6.12.x ✓ 6.15.8 6.15.x ✓ 6.16

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2025-38549 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/64e135f1eaba0bbb0cdee859af3328c68d5b9789
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/816d36973467d1c9c08a48bdffe4675e219a2e84
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e9fabe7036bb8be6071f39dc38605508f5f57b20
Patch

Details

CVE ID CVE-2025-38549

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2025-08-16

Modified 2025-11-18

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-38549?

CVE-2025-38549 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 6.7 onward and has been patched in 6.12.40, 6.15.8 and 6.16. CVE-2025-38549 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-38549?

CVE-2025-38549 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-2025-38549?

Yes — CVE-2025-38549 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.12.40, 6.15.8 and 6.16. If you are running Linux kernel 6.7 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2025-38549 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2025-38549 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.
What is Memory Leak (CWE-401)?

The product does not release memory after use, causing gradual resource exhaustion. View CWE-401 on MITRE CWE →