# 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.

- **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:** 3 Jul 2025
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **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, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-38105, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-38105, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-38105, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-38105, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38105

## 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: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-38105?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## 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

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-38105 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38105 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. 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-2025-38105/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38105/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-38105
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38105
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-38105

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38105/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.