CVE-2025-38097 (GCVE-0-2025-38097)
Vulnerability from cvelistv5
Published
2025-07-03 08:13
Modified
2025-07-03 08:13
Severity ?
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: espintcp: remove encap socket caching to avoid reference leak The current scheme for caching the encap socket can lead to reference leaks when we try to delete the netns. The reference chain is: xfrm_state -> enacp_sk -> netns Since the encap socket is a userspace socket, it holds a reference on the netns. If we delete the espintcp state (through flush or individual delete) before removing the netns, the reference on the socket is dropped and the netns is correctly deleted. Otherwise, the netns may not be reachable anymore (if all processes within the ns have terminated), so we cannot delete the xfrm state to drop its reference on the socket. This patch results in a small (~2% in my tests) performance regression. A GC-type mechanism could be added for the socket cache, to clear references if the state hasn't been used "recently", but it's a lot more complex than just not caching the socket.
References
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/028363685bd0b7a19b4a820f82dd905b1dc83999
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/74fd327767fb784c5875cf7c4ba1217f26020943
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9cbca30102028f9ad3d2098f935c4368f581fd07
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b58a295d10065960bcb9d60cb8ca6ead9837cd27
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e4cde54b46a87231c77256a633be1bef62687d69
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version
Linux Linux Version: e27cca96cd68fa2c6814c90f9a1cfd36bb68c593
Version: e27cca96cd68fa2c6814c90f9a1cfd36bb68c593
Version: e27cca96cd68fa2c6814c90f9a1cfd36bb68c593
Version: e27cca96cd68fa2c6814c90f9a1cfd36bb68c593
Version: e27cca96cd68fa2c6814c90f9a1cfd36bb68c593
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   Linux Linux Version: 5.6
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{
  "containers": {
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "include/net/xfrm.h",
            "net/ipv4/esp4.c",
            "net/ipv6/esp6.c",
            "net/xfrm/xfrm_state.c"
          ],
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          "programFiles": [
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            "net/xfrm/xfrm_state.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
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              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.12.31",
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              "version": "6.14.9",
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              "version": "6.15",
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      ],
      "cpeApplicability": [
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          "lang": "en",
          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nespintcp: remove encap socket caching to avoid reference leak\n\nThe current scheme for caching the encap socket can lead to reference\nleaks when we try to delete the netns.\n\nThe reference chain is: xfrm_state -\u003e enacp_sk -\u003e netns\n\nSince the encap socket is a userspace socket, it holds a reference on\nthe netns. If we delete the espintcp state (through flush or\nindividual delete) before removing the netns, the reference on the\nsocket is dropped and the netns is correctly deleted. Otherwise, the\nnetns may not be reachable anymore (if all processes within the ns\nhave terminated), so we cannot delete the xfrm state to drop its\nreference on the socket.\n\nThis patch results in a small (~2% in my tests) performance\nregression.\n\nA GC-type mechanism could be added for the socket cache, to clear\nreferences if the state hasn\u0027t been used \"recently\", but it\u0027s a lot\nmore complex than just not caching the socket."
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2025-07-03T08:13:57.694Z",
        "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "shortName": "Linux"
      },
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          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e4cde54b46a87231c77256a633be1bef62687d69"
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        },
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        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/028363685bd0b7a19b4a820f82dd905b1dc83999"
        }
      ],
      "title": "espintcp: remove encap socket caching to avoid reference leak",
      "x_generator": {
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      }
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  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
    "assignerShortName": "Linux",
    "cveId": "CVE-2025-38097",
    "datePublished": "2025-07-03T08:13:57.694Z",
    "dateReserved": "2025-04-16T04:51:23.985Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2025-07-03T08:13:57.694Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
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  "vulnerability-lookup:meta": {
    "nvd": "{\"cve\":{\"id\":\"CVE-2025-38097\",\"sourceIdentifier\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\",\"published\":\"2025-07-03T09:15:23.030\",\"lastModified\":\"2025-07-03T15:13:53.147\",\"vulnStatus\":\"Awaiting Analysis\",\"cveTags\":[],\"descriptions\":[{\"lang\":\"en\",\"value\":\"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\\n\\nespintcp: remove encap socket caching to avoid reference leak\\n\\nThe current scheme for caching the encap socket can lead to reference\\nleaks when we try to delete the netns.\\n\\nThe reference chain is: xfrm_state -\u003e enacp_sk -\u003e netns\\n\\nSince the encap socket is a userspace socket, it holds a reference on\\nthe netns. If we delete the espintcp state (through flush or\\nindividual delete) before removing the netns, the reference on the\\nsocket is dropped and the netns is correctly deleted. Otherwise, the\\nnetns may not be reachable anymore (if all processes within the ns\\nhave terminated), so we cannot delete the xfrm state to drop its\\nreference on the socket.\\n\\nThis patch results in a small (~2% in my tests) performance\\nregression.\\n\\nA GC-type mechanism could be added for the socket cache, to clear\\nreferences if the state hasn\u0027t been used \\\"recently\\\", but it\u0027s a lot\\nmore complex than just not caching the socket.\"}],\"metrics\":{},\"references\":[{\"url\":\"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/028363685bd0b7a19b4a820f82dd905b1dc83999\",\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\"},{\"url\":\"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/74fd327767fb784c5875cf7c4ba1217f26020943\",\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\"},{\"url\":\"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9cbca30102028f9ad3d2098f935c4368f581fd07\",\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\"},{\"url\":\"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b58a295d10065960bcb9d60cb8ca6ead9837cd27\",\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\"},{\"url\":\"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e4cde54b46a87231c77256a633be1bef62687d69\",\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\"}]}}"
  }
}


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