CVE-2025-38369 dmaengine: idxd: Check availability of workqueue allocated by idxd wq driver before using
A use-after-free in the Linux kernel IDXD driver can cause a kernel panic when container processes terminate unexpectedly.
- 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-2025-38369?
CVE-2025-38369 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 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:
dmaengine: idxd: Check availability of workqueue allocated by idxd wq driver before using
Running IDXD workloads in a container with the /dev directory mounted can trigger a call trace or even a kernel panic when the parent process of the container is terminated.
This issue occurs because, under certain configurations, Docker does not properly propagate the mount replica back to the original mount point.
In this case, when the user driver detaches, the WQ is destroyed but it still calls destroy_workqueue() attempting to completes all pending work. It's necessary to check wq->wq and skip the drain if it no longer exists.
Weakness: CWE-416
Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38369?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2025-38369?
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-2025-38369 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38369 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as AZL-70448, BELL-CVE-2025-38369, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38369, GHSA-q6ch-8cp2-xfhp, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-38369, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-38369 and 3 more.