#VU111597 Improper locking in Linux kernel - CVE-2025-38073

Vulnerability identifier: #VU111597

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 4.3 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2025-38073

CWE-ID: CWE-667

Exploitation vector: Local

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
Linux kernel
Operating systems & Components / Operating system

Vendor: Linux Foundation

Description

The vulnerability allows a local user to perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

The vulnerability exists due to improper locking within the blk_ioctl_discard(), blk_finish_plug(), blk_ioctl_secure_erase() and blk_ioctl_zeroout() functions in block/ioctl.c, within the blkdev_write_iter(), blkdev_read_iter() and blkdev_fallocate() functions in block/fops.c, within the blkdev_zone_mgmt_ioctl() function in block/blk-zoned.c, within the set_blocksize() function in block/bdev.c. A local user can perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

Mitigation
Install update from vendor's repository.

Vulnerable software versions

Linux kernel: All versions

---

External links
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/64f505b08e0cfd8163491c8c082d4f47a88e51d4
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8c5cf440a378801d313eb58be996fdc81a8878a4
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c0e473a0d226479e8e925d5ba93f751d8df628e9

---

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?