Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
A flaw in Linux's RxRPC networking can crash the kernel when an incoming call reaches a specially configured AF_RXRPC service socket before its incoming-call backlog exists. The documented impact is loss of availability, not data theft or modification. Business risk is concentrated on systems actually providing an affected RxRPC service.
Executive priority
Treat this as high priority on network-reachable systems providing AF_RXRPC services because successful triggering can interrupt the entire host. Use normal vulnerability-management priority elsewhere after confirming whether RxRPC is used. The incomplete version boundaries and absence of active-exploitation evidence do not justify assuming every Linux host has equal urgency.
Technical view
rxrpc_alloc_incoming_call() can dereference an absent preallocated-backlog structure, causing a kernel oops. The published correction returns NULL when no backlog exists, causing the incoming call to be aborted. CVSS 3.1 rates the issue 7.5: network-accessible, low complexity, unauthenticated, and availability-only.
Likely exposure
Exposure requires a vulnerable Linux kernel and an AF_RXRPC service socket that is opened and bound while the required backlog structure is absent. Network-reachable systems meeting those conditions deserve priority. The supplied affected-version data has duplicated and ambiguous entries, so distribution-specific package status should determine exposure.
Exploitation context
The source bundle provides no evidence of active exploitation, and the CVE is not identified as being in KEV. The CVSS vector indicates that triggering may be remote and unauthenticated, but no public exploit maturity or observed attack activity is established here.
Researcher notes
The root condition is a missing backlog allocation before incoming-call handling. The fix changes failure handling to abort the call instead of dereferencing absent state. Multiple stable-tree commits are referenced, suggesting branch-specific backports. Exact introduced and fixed version boundaries cannot be reliably reconstructed from the supplied version list alone.
Mitigation direction
- Apply a vendor kernel update containing the applicable referenced stable fix or distribution backport.
- Reboot affected systems into the updated kernel and confirm that kernel is active.
- Consult Linux distribution advisories for precise package status and supported remediation versions.
- Prioritize network-reachable hosts that provide AF_RXRPC services.
Validation and detection
- Inventory running kernel and distribution package versions on systems providing AF_RXRPC services.
- Check vendor package trackers for whether each deployed kernel contains the applicable backport.
- Identify bound AF_RXRPC service sockets and document their network reachability.
- Review kernel logs for oopses involving rxrpc_alloc_incoming_call or the RxRPC subsystem.
- After updating, verify the expected kernel is running and affected services operate normally.
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
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CVE-2025-38514 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
- 7.5 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H3.93.6LinuxVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.5HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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/bf0ca6a1bc4fb904b598137c6718785a107e3adfCVE reference, Linux
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f7afb3ff01c42c49e8a143cdce400b95844bb506CVE reference, Linux
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f5e72b7824d08c206ce106d30cb37c4642900cccCVE reference, Linux
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0eef29385d715d4c7fd707b18d4a9b76c76dd5e6CVE reference, Linux
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/efc1b2b7c1a308b60df8f36bc2d7ce16d3999364CVE reference, Linux
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d1ff5f9d2c5405681457262e23c720b08977c11fCVE reference, Linux
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2c2e9ebeb036f9b1b09325ec5cfdfe0e78f357c3CVE reference, Linux
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/880a88f318cf1d2a0f4c0a7ff7b07e2062b434a4CVE 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
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.