CVE-2025-38175 binder: fix yet another UAF in binder_devices
A use-after-free in the Linux kernel binder subsystem allows local attackers to potentially execute code or escalate privileges.
- 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-2025-38175?
CVE-2025-38175 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 4 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:
binder: fix yet another UAF in binder_devices
Commit e77aff5528a18 ("binderfs: fix use-after-free in binder_devices") addressed a use-after-free where devices could be released without first being removed from the binder_devices list. However, there is a similar path in binder_free_proc() that was missed:
================================================================== BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in binder_remove_device+0xd4/0x100 Write of size 8 at addr ffff0000c773b900 by task umount/467 CPU: 12 UID: 0 PID: 467 Comm: umount Not tainted 6.15.0-rc7-00138-g57483a362741 #9 PREEMPT Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT) Call trace: binder_remove_device+0xd4/0x100 binderfs_evict_inode+0x230/0x2f0 evict+0x25c/0x5dc iput+0x304/0x480 dentry_unlink_inode+0x208/0x46c __dentry_kill+0x154/0x530 [...]
Allocated by task 463: __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x13c/0x324 binderfs_binder_device_create.isra.0+0x138/0xa60 binder_ctl_ioctl+0x1ac/0x230 [...]
Freed by task 215: kfree+0x184/0x31c binder_proc_dec_tmpref+0x33c/0x4ac binder_deferred_func+0xc10/0x1108 process_one_work+0x520/0xba4 [...] ==================================================================
Call binder_remove_device() within binder_free_proc() to ensure the device is removed from the binder_devices list before being kfreed.
Weakness: CWE-416
Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38175?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2025-38175?
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-2025-38175 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38175 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2025-38175, GHSA-w5g9-6v5h-28cv, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38175.