CVE-2025-38015 dmaengine: idxd: fix memory leak in error handling path of idxd_alloc
A memory leak in the Linux kernel's idxd driver allows attackers to cause resource exhaustion and denial of service.
- 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
What is CVE-2025-38015?
CVE-2025-38015 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 18 Jun 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:
dmaengine: idxd: fix memory leak in error handling path of idxd_alloc
Memory allocated for idxd is not freed if an error occurs during idxd_alloc(). To fix it, free the allocated memory in the reverse order of allocation before exiting the function in case of an error.
Weakness: CWE-401
Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38015?
It affects 2 products.
Products include Debian Debian Linux, Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2025-38015?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2025-38015 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38015 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2025-38015, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38015, GHSA-fmxg-mjgm-8q6c, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-38015, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-38015, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-38015 and 1 more.