# CVE-2025-38211: RDMA/iwcm: Fix use-after-free of work objects after cm_id destruction

> A use-after-free in the Linux kernel RDMA subsystem allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or escalate privileges via crafted work object handling.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 4 Jul 2025
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-64686, BELL-CVE-2025-38211, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38211, GHSA-wcw7-g3wh-rxf7, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-38211, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-38211, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-38211, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-38211, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38211

## What is CVE-2025-38211?

CVE-2025-38211 is a critical use after free vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 4 Jul 2025. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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

RDMA/iwcm: Fix use-after-free of work objects after cm_id destruction

The commit 59c68ac31e15 ("iw_cm: free cm_id resources on the last
deref") simplified cm_id resource management by freeing cm_id once all
references to the cm_id were removed. The references are removed either
upon completion of iw_cm event handlers or when the application destroys
the cm_id. This commit introduced the use-after-free condition where
cm_id_private object could still be in use by event handler works during
the destruction of cm_id. The commit aee2424246f9 ("RDMA/iwcm: Fix a
use-after-free related to destroying CM IDs") addressed this use-after-
free by flushing all pending works at the cm_id destruction.

However, still another use-after-free possibility remained. It happens
with the work objects allocated for each cm_id_priv within
alloc_work_entries() during cm_id creation, and subsequently freed in
dealloc_work_entries() once all references to the cm_id are removed.
If the cm_id's last reference is decremented in the event handler work,
the work object for the work itself gets removed, and causes the use-
after-free BUG below:

  BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in __pwq_activate_work+0x1ff/0x250
  Read of size 8 at addr ffff88811f9cf800 by task kworker/u16:1/147091

  CPU: 2 UID: 0 PID: 147091 Comm: kworker/u16:1 Not tainted 6.15.0-rc2+ #27 PREEMPT(voluntary)
  Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-3.fc41 04/01/2014
  Workqueue:  0x0 (iw_cm_wq)
  Call Trace:
   <TASK>
   dump_stack_lvl+0x6a/0x90
   print_report+0x174/0x554
   ? __virt_addr_valid+0x208/0x430
   ? __pwq_activate_work+0x1ff/0x250
   kasan_report+0xae/0x170
   ? __pwq_activate_work+0x1ff/0x250
   __pwq_activate_work+0x1ff/0x250
   pwq_dec_nr_in_flight+0x8c5/0xfb0
   process_one_work+0xc11/0x1460
   ? __pfx_process_one_work+0x10/0x10
   ? assign_work+0x16c/0x240
   worker_thread+0x5ef/0xfd0
   ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10
   kthread+0x3b0/0x770
   ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10
   ? rcu_is_watching+0x11/0xb0
   ? _raw_spin_unlock_irq+0x24/0x50
   ? rcu_is_watching+0x11/0xb0
   ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10
   ret_from_fork+0x30/0x70
   ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10
   ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30
   </TASK>

  Allocated by task 147416:
   kasan_save_stack+0x2c/0x50
   kasan_save_track+0x10/0x30
   __kasan_kmalloc+0xa6/0xb0
   alloc_work_entries+0xa9/0x260 [iw_cm]
   iw_cm_connect+0x23/0x4a0 [iw_cm]
   rdma_connect_locked+0xbfd/0x1920 [rdma_cm]
   nvme_rdma_cm_handler+0x8e5/0x1b60 [nvme_rdma]
   cma_cm_event_handler+0xae/0x320 [rdma_cm]
   cma_work_handler+0x106/0x1b0 [rdma_cm]
   process_one_work+0x84f/0x1460
   worker_thread+0x5ef/0xfd0
   kthread+0x3b0/0x770
   ret_from_fork+0x30/0x70
   ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30

  Freed by task 147091:
   kasan_save_stack+0x2c/0x50
   kasan_save_track+0x10/0x30
   kasan_save_free_info+0x37/0x60
   __kasan_slab_free+0x4b/0x70
   kfree+0x13a/0x4b0
   dealloc_work_entries+0x125/0x1f0 [iw_cm]
   iwcm_deref_id+0x6f/0xa0 [iw_cm]
   cm_work_handler+0x136/0x1ba0 [iw_cm]
   process_one_work+0x84f/0x1460
   worker_thread+0x5ef/0xfd0
   kthread+0x3b0/0x770
   ret_from_fork+0x30/0x70
   ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30

  Last potentially related work creation:
   kasan_save_stack+0x2c/0x50
   kasan_record_aux_stack+0xa3/0xb0
   __queue_work+0x2ff/0x1390
   queue_work_on+0x67/0xc0
   cm_event_handler+0x46a/0x820 [iw_cm]
   siw_cm_upcall+0x330/0x650 [siw]
   siw_cm_work_handler+0x6b9/0x2b20 [siw]
   process_one_work+0x84f/0x1460
   worker_thread+0x5ef/0xfd0
   kthread+0x3b0/0x770
   ret_from_fork+0x30/0x70
   ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30

This BUG is reproducible by repeating the blktests test case nvme/061
for the rdma transport and the siw driver.

To avoid the use-after-free of cm_id_private work objects, ensure that
the last reference to the cm_id is decremented not in the event handler
works, but in the cm_id destruction context. For that purpose, mo
---truncated---

Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38211?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Debian Debian Linux, Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-38211?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-38211 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38211 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-2025-38211 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-38211 is a critical use after free vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 4 Jul 2025. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38211 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-2025-38211/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38211/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-38211
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38211
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-38211

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38211/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.