#VU112119 Improper locking in Linux kernel - CVE-2025-38084

Vulnerability identifier: #VU112119

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-2025-38084

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 __split_vma() function in mm/vma.c, within the hugetlb_vma_lock_free(), hugetlb_vm_op_split(), move_hugetlb_state() and hugetlb_unshare_pmds() functions in mm/hugetlb.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

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External links
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/081056dc00a27bccb55ccc3c6f230a3d5fd3f7e0
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2511ac64bc1617ca716d3ba8464e481a647c1902
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/366298f2b04d2bf1f2f2b7078405bdf9df9bd5d0
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8a21d5584826f4880f45bbf8f72375f4e6c0ff2a
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9cf5b2a3b72c23fb7b84736d5d19ee6ea718762b
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/af6cfcd0efb7f051af221c418ec8b37a10211947
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e8847d18cd9fff1edbb45e963d9141273c3b539c

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Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?