# CVE-2025-37788: cxgb4: fix memory leak in cxgb4_init_ethtool_filters() error path

> A memory leak in the cxgb4 network driver error path allows attackers to exhaust system memory, causing denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 1 May 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-37788, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-37788, GHSA-8v7q-6cgm-98qq, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-37788, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-37788, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-37788, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-37788

## What is CVE-2025-37788?

CVE-2025-37788 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 1 May 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

cxgb4: fix memory leak in cxgb4_init_ethtool_filters() error path

In the for loop used to allocate the loc_array and bmap for each port, a
memory leak is possible when the allocation for loc_array succeeds,
but the allocation for bmap fails. This is because when the control flow
goes to the label free_eth_finfo, only the allocations starting from
(i-1)th iteration are freed.

Fix that by freeing the loc_array in the bmap allocation error path.

Weakness: CWE-401 (Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-37788?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Debian Debian Linux, Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-37788?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-37788 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-37788 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux

- [CVE-2015-3306](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3306/): ProFTPD Improper Access Control (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-49113](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-49113/): RoundCube Webmail Deserialization of Untrusted Data (critical 9.9, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-24061](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24061/): GNU InetUtils Argument Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-39682](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39682/): Linux Kernel Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-9680](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-9680/): Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-37788 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-37788 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 1 May 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-37788 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Debian Debian Linux. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-37788/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-37788/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-37788
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-37788
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-37788

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-37788/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.