Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
A Linux kernel bounds check can miscalculate whether a requested software-node reference fits inside a property. A malformed property may therefore cause memory access beyond the property's boundary. The supplied severity is high, although exploitation requires local access, low privileges, and high complexity.
Executive priority
Treat this as a high-priority kernel maintenance issue, especially for shared or multi-user Linux systems. It is not supported as an emergency internet-wide threat because exploitation is local, complex, and not reported active. Confirm vendor-specific exposure and schedule tested kernel updates promptly.
Technical view
software_node_get_reference_args() checked property length without correctly accounting for the requested zero-based index. The corrected condition requires enough bytes for index plus one references. The supplied CVSS 3.1 score is 7.0, with potential high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.
Likely exposure
The bundle identifies Linux kernel releases from 5.0 through 6.16, including specific stable releases, as affected. Package-level exposure remains uncertain because distributors may backport fixes without changing upstream version numbers. Risk is most relevant on systems where low-privileged local users or workloads can reach the vulnerable software-node handling path.
Exploitation context
The supplied vector indicates local, low-privileged, high-complexity exploitation without user interaction. The bundle says this CVE is not in KEV and provides no evidence of active exploitation. It also does not establish how commonly untrusted users can supply or influence the malformed property needed to reach the flaw.
Researcher notes
The version metadata is difficult to interpret: it includes a value of "0" and repeated commit identifiers without a complete package mapping. Use the official correction commits to identify backports. The sources describe an out-of-bounds condition but provide no demonstrated exploit, affected call-path prevalence, or source-backed workaround.
Mitigation direction
- Deploy a vendor-supported kernel update containing the official bounds-check correction, then reboot into it.
- Where updates are unavailable, follow distributor or appliance-vendor guidance; the sources provide no specific workaround.
- Prioritize multi-user hosts, shared compute, and systems running low-trust local workloads.
Validation and detection
- Record each system's active kernel release and package build, including container hosts and embedded appliances.
- Check vendor advisories and changelogs for a backport of the cited software-node bounds-check correction.
- After updating and rebooting, verify the active kernel is the vendor-fixed build.
- Review local-access and workload trust boundaries because the supplied vector requires local access and low privileges.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CVE-2025-38342 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 7 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H15.9LinuxVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/142acd739eb6f08c148a96ae8309256f1422ff4bCVE reference, Linux
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/56ce76e8d406cc72b89aee7931df5cf3f18db49dCVE reference, Linux
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9324127b07dde8529222dc19233aa57ec810856cCVE reference, Linux
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f9397cf7bfb680799fb8c7f717c8f756384c3280CVE reference, Linux
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4b3383110b6df48e0ba5936af2cb68d5eb6bd43bCVE reference, Linux
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7af18e42bdefe1dba5bcb32555a4d524fd504939CVE reference, Linux
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/31e4e12e0e9609850cefd4b2e1adf782f56337d6CVE reference, Linux
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.htmlCVE reference, CVE
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00007.htmlCVE reference, CVE
- https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-082556.htmlCVE reference, siemens-SADP
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.