CVE-2025-38542 — Improper Update of Reference Count in Linux
Severity
5.5MEDIUMNVD
EPSS
0.0%
top 96.43%
CISA KEV
Not in KEV
Exploit
No known exploits
Affected products
Timeline
PublishedAug 16
Latest updateMar 25
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
net: appletalk: Fix device refcount leak in atrtr_create()
When updating an existing route entry in atrtr_create(), the old device
reference was not being released before assigning the new device,
leading to a device refcount leak. Fix this by calling dev_put() to
release the old device reference before holding the new one.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HExploitability: 1.8 | Impact: 3.6
Affected Packages3 packages
▶CVEListV5linux/linuxc7f905f0f6d49ed8c1aa4566c31f0383a0ba0c9d — b92bedf71f25303e203a4e657489d76691a58119+8
Also affects: Debian Linux 11.0
Patches
🔴Vulnerability Details
3GHSA▶
GHSA-m82r-6669-cm5x: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
net: appletalk: Fix device refcount leak in atrtr_create()
When updating an exis↗2025-08-16
OSV▶
CVE-2025-38542: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: appletalk: Fix device refcount leak in atrtr_create() When updating an existi↗2025-08-16