# CVE-2025-38372: RDMA/mlx5: Fix unsafe xarray access in implicit ODP handling

> A race condition in the Linux kernel's mlx5 RDMA driver due to unsafe xarray access can cause a kernel warning and potential system instability.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 25 Jul 2025
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-38372, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38372, GHSA-6gw9-2x6r-hqw8, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-38372, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38372

## What is CVE-2025-38372?

CVE-2025-38372 is a high-severity 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:

RDMA/mlx5: Fix unsafe xarray access in implicit ODP handling

__xa_store() and __xa_erase() were used without holding the proper lock,
which led to a lockdep warning due to unsafe RCU usage.  This patch
replaces them with xa_store() and xa_erase(), which perform the necessary
locking internally.

  =============================
  WARNING: suspicious RCPU usage
  6.14.0-rc7_for_upstream_debug_2025_03_18_15_01 #1 Not tainted
  -----------------------------
  ./include/linux/xarray.h:1211 suspicious rcu_dereference_protected() usage!

  other info that might help us debug this:

  rcu_scheduler_active = 2, debug_locks = 1
  3 locks held by kworker/u136:0/219:
      at: process_one_work+0xbe4/0x15f0
      process_one_work+0x75c/0x15f0
      pagefault_mr+0x9a5/0x1390 [mlx5_ib]

  stack backtrace:
  CPU: 14 UID: 0 PID: 219 Comm: kworker/u136:0 Not tainted
  6.14.0-rc7_for_upstream_debug_2025_03_18_15_01 #1
  Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS
  rel-1.16.0-0-gd239552ce722-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014
  Workqueue: mlx5_ib_page_fault mlx5_ib_eqe_pf_action [mlx5_ib]
  Call Trace:
   dump_stack_lvl+0xa8/0xc0
   lockdep_rcu_suspicious+0x1e6/0x260
   xas_create+0xb8a/0xee0
   xas_store+0x73/0x14c0
   __xa_store+0x13c/0x220
   ? xa_store_range+0x390/0x390
   ? spin_bug+0x1d0/0x1d0
   pagefault_mr+0xcb5/0x1390 [mlx5_ib]
   ? _raw_spin_unlock+0x1f/0x30
   mlx5_ib_eqe_pf_action+0x3be/0x2620 [mlx5_ib]
   ? lockdep_hardirqs_on_prepare+0x400/0x400
   ? mlx5_ib_invalidate_range+0xcb0/0xcb0 [mlx5_ib]
   process_one_work+0x7db/0x15f0
   ? pwq_dec_nr_in_flight+0xda0/0xda0
   ? assign_work+0x168/0x240
   worker_thread+0x57d/0xcd0
   ? rescuer_thread+0xc40/0xc40
   kthread+0x3b3/0x800
   ? kthread_is_per_cpu+0xb0/0xb0
   ? lock_downgrade+0x680/0x680
   ? do_raw_spin_lock+0x12d/0x270
   ? spin_bug+0x1d0/0x1d0
   ? finish_task_switch.isra.0+0x284/0x9e0
   ? lockdep_hardirqs_on_prepare+0x284/0x400
   ? kthread_is_per_cpu+0xb0/0xb0
   ret_from_fork+0x2d/0x70
   ? kthread_is_per_cpu+0xb0/0xb0
   ret_from_fork_asm+0x11/0x20

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38372?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-38372?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-38372 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38372 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-2025-38372 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-38372 is a high-severity 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38372 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-2025-38372/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38372/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-38372
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38372
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-38372

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38372/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.