CVE-2025-38105 ALSA: usb-audio: Kill timer properly at removal
A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's USB audio MIDI driver can cause a kernel warning or crash during device removal.
- 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-2025-38105?
CVE-2025-38105 is a medium-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 3 Jul 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:
ALSA: usb-audio: Kill timer properly at removal
The USB-audio MIDI code initializes the timer, but in a rare case, the driver might be freed without the disconnect call. This leaves the timer in an active state while the assigned object is released via snd_usbmidi_free(), which ends up with a kernel warning when the debug configuration is enabled, as spotted by fuzzer.
For avoiding the problem, put timer_shutdown_sync() at snd_usbmidi_free(), so that the timer can be killed properly. While we're at it, replace the existing timer_delete_sync() at the disconnect callback with timer_shutdown_sync(), too.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38105?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2025-38105?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.
Is CVE-2025-38105 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38105 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as AZL-64505, AZL-70627, BELL-CVE-2025-38105, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38105, GHSA-7f9v-c8qw-m5c4, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-38105 and 5 more.