CVE-2025-38703: linux kernel Use-After-Free — Fix

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/xe: Make dma-fences compliant with the safe access rules Xe can free some of the data pointed to by the dma-fences it exports. Most notably the timeline name can get freed if userspace closes the associated submit queue. At the same time the fence could have been exported to a third party (for example a sync_fence fd) which will then cause an use- after-free on subsequent access. To make this safe we need to make the driver compliant with the newly documented dma-fence rules. Driver has to ensure a RCU grace period between signalling a fence and freeing any data pointed to by said fence. For the timeline name we simply make the queue be freed via kfree_rcu and for the shared lock associated with multiple queues we add a RCU grace period before freeing the per GT structure holding the lock.

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CVSS v3.1 Score

7.8

HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-416 Use After Free

Affected Products

Vendor	Product	Versions
linux	linux_kernel	6.8 — 6.12.43
linux	linux_kernel	6.13 — 6.15.11
linux	linux_kernel	6.16 — 6.16.2

References

Advisories & Patches

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/683b0e397dad9f26a42dcacf6f7f545a77ce6c06 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6bd90e700b4285e6a7541e00f969cab0d696adde https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b17fcce70733c211cb5dabf54f4f9491920b1d92 https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ba37807d08bae67de6139346a85650cab5f6145a

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-38703? +

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/xe: Make dma-fences compliant with the safe access rules Xe can free some of the data pointed to by the dma-fences it exports. Most notably the timeline name can get freed if userspace closes the associated submit queue. At the same time the fence could have been exported to a third party (for example a sync_fence fd) which will then cause an use- after-free on subsequent access. To make this safe we need to make the driver compliant with the newly documented dma-fence rules. Driver has to ensure a RCU grace period between signalling a fence and freeing any data pointed to by said fence. For the timeline name we simply make the queue be freed via kfree_rcu and for the shared lock associated with multiple queues we add a RCU grace period before freeing the per GT structure holding the lock. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (HIGH).

How severe is CVE-2025-38703? +

CVE-2025-38703 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.8 out of 10, rated HIGH. This is a high-severity vulnerability that should be prioritized for patching.

What products are affected by CVE-2025-38703? +

CVE-2025-38703 affects products from linux, specifically: linux_kernel. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2025-38703? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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