How severe is CVE-2025-38256?

CVE-2025-38256 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.

Is CVE-2025-38256 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (3rd percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2025-38256?

CVE-2025-38256 primarily affects Linux Linux Kernel. In total, 4 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.

How do I fix CVE-2025-38256?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.

Does CVE-2025-38256 have an EU (EUVD) identifier?

Yes. CVE-2025-38256 is tracked in the ENISA EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD) as EUVD-2025-20805.

When was CVE-2025-38256 published?

CVE-2025-38256 was published on 2025-07-09 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2025-38256

CVE-2025-38256 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel with a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low.

Key facts

Severity: Medium (CVSS 3.x base score 5.5)
EPSS exploit prediction: 0% (3rd percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
EU (EUVD) id: EUVD-2025-20805
Affected product: Linux Linux Kernel
Published: 2025-07-09
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: io_uring/rsrc: fix folio unpinning syzbot complains about an unmapping failure: [ 108.070381][ T14] kernel BUG at mm/gup.c:71! [ 108.070502][ T14] Internal error: Oops - BUG: 00000000f2000800 [#1] SMP [ 108.123672][ T14] Hardware name: QEMU KVM Virtual Machine, BIOS edk2-20250221-8.fc42 02/21/2025 [ 108.127458][ T14] Workqueue: iou_exit io_ring_exit_work [ 108.174205][ T14] Call trace: [ 108.175649][ T14] sanity_check_pinned_pages+0x7cc/0x7d0 (P) [ 108.178138][ T14] unpin_user_page+0x80/0x10c [ 108.180189][ T14] io_release_ubuf+0x84/0xf8 [ 108.182196][ T14] io_free_rsrc_node+0x250/0x57c [ 108.184345][ T14] io_rsrc_data_free+0x148/0x298 [ 108.186493][ T14] io_sqe_buffers_unregister+0x84/0xa0 [ 108.188991][ T14] io_ring_ctx_free+0x48/0x480 [ 108.191057][ T14] io_ring_exit_work+0x764/0x7d8 [ 108.193207][ T14] process_one_work+0x7e8/0x155c [ 108.195431][ T14] worker_thread+0x958/0xed8 [ 108.197561][ T14] kthread+0x5fc/0x75c [ 108.199362][ T14] ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 We can pin a tail page of a folio, but then io_uring will try to unpin the head page of the folio. While it should be fine in terms of keeping the page actually alive, mm folks say it's wrong and triggers a debug warning. Use unpin_user_folio() instead of unpin_user_page*. [axboe: adapt to current tree, massage commit message]

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-38256?: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: io_uring/rsrc: fix folio unpinning syzbot complains about an unmapping failure: [ 108.070381][ T14] kernel BUG at mm/gup.c:71! [ 108.070502][ T14] Internal error: Oops - BUG: 00000000f2000800 [#1] SMP [ 108.123672][ T14] Hardware name: QEMU KVM Virtual Machine, BIOS edk2-20250221-8.fc42 02/21/2025 [ 108.127458][ T14] Workqueue: iou_exit io_ring_exit_work [ 108.174205][ T14] Call trace: [ 108.175649][ T14] sanity_check_pinned_pages+0x7cc/0x7d0 (P) [ 108.178138][ T14] unpin_user_page+0x80/0x10c [ 108.180189][ T14] io_release_ubuf+0x84/0xf8 [ 108.182196][ T14] io_free_rsrc_node+0x250/0x57c [ 108.184345][ T14] io_rsrc_data_free+0x148/0x298 [ 108.186493][ T14] io_sqe_buffers_unregister+0x84/0xa0 [ 108.188991][ T14] io_ring_ctx_free+0x48/0x480 [ 108.191057][ T14] io_ring_exit_work+0x764/0x7d8 [ 108.193207][ T14] process_one_work+0x7e8/0x155c [ 108.195431][ T14] worker_thread+0x958/0xed8 [ 108.197561][ T14] kthread+0x5fc/0x75c [ 108.199362][ T14] ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 We can pin a tail page of a folio, but then io_uring will try to unpin the head page of the folio. While it should be fine in terms of keeping the page actually alive, mm folks say it's wrong and triggers a debug warning. Use unpin_user_folio() instead of unpin_user_page*. [axboe: adapt to current tree, massage commit message]
How severe is CVE-2025-38256?: CVE-2025-38256 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.
Is CVE-2025-38256 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (3rd percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2025-38256?: CVE-2025-38256 primarily affects Linux Linux Kernel. In total, 4 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.
How do I fix CVE-2025-38256?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
Does CVE-2025-38256 have an EU (EUVD) identifier?: Yes. CVE-2025-38256 is tracked in the ENISA EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD) as EUVD-2025-20805.
When was CVE-2025-38256 published?: CVE-2025-38256 was published on 2025-07-09 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (4)

cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*

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