# CVE-2025-38491: mptcp: make fallback action and fallback decision atomic
> A race condition in the Linux kernel MPTCP implementation can cause a system crash, requiring a kernel patch to fix.
- **Severity:** High 8.2 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/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:** 28 Jul 2025
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-65943, AZL-73461, BELL-CVE-2025-38491, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38491, GHSA-f3wq-3888-8q7g, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-38491, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-38491, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-38491, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-38491, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38491
## What is CVE-2025-38491?
CVE-2025-38491 is a high-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 28 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:
mptcp: make fallback action and fallback decision atomic
Syzkaller reported the following splat:
WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 7704 at net/mptcp/protocol.h:1223 __mptcp_do_fallback net/mptcp/protocol.h:1223 [inline]
WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 7704 at net/mptcp/protocol.h:1223 mptcp_do_fallback net/mptcp/protocol.h:1244 [inline]
WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 7704 at net/mptcp/protocol.h:1223 check_fully_established net/mptcp/options.c:982 [inline]
WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 7704 at net/mptcp/protocol.h:1223 mptcp_incoming_options+0x21a8/0x2510 net/mptcp/options.c:1153
Modules linked in:
CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 7704 Comm: syz.3.1419 Not tainted 6.16.0-rc3-gbd5ce2324dba #20 PREEMPT(voluntary)
Hardware name: QEMU Ubuntu 24.04 PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014
RIP: 0010:__mptcp_do_fallback net/mptcp/protocol.h:1223 [inline]
RIP: 0010:mptcp_do_fallback net/mptcp/protocol.h:1244 [inline]
RIP: 0010:check_fully_established net/mptcp/options.c:982 [inline]
RIP: 0010:mptcp_incoming_options+0x21a8/0x2510 net/mptcp/options.c:1153
Code: 24 18 e8 bb 2a 00 fd e9 1b df ff ff e8 b1 21 0f 00 e8 ec 5f c4 fc 44 0f b7 ac 24 b0 00 00 00 e9 54 f1 ff ff e8 d9 5f c4 fc 90 <0f> 0b 90 e9 b8 f4 ff ff e8 8b 2a 00 fd e9 8d e6 ff ff e8 81 2a 00
RSP: 0018:ffff8880a3f08448 EFLAGS: 00010246
RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff8880180a8000 RCX: ffffffff84afcf45
RDX: ffff888090223700 RSI: ffffffff84afdaa7 RDI: 0000000000000001
RBP: ffff888017955780 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: 0000000000000000
R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: 0000000000000000
R13: ffff8880180a8910 R14: ffff8880a3e9d058 R15: 0000000000000000
FS: 00005555791b8500(0000) GS:ffff88811c495000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
CR2: 000000110c2800b7 CR3: 0000000058e44000 CR4: 0000000000350ef0
Call Trace:
tcp_reset+0x26f/0x2b0 net/ipv4/tcp_input.c:4432
tcp_validate_incoming+0x1057/0x1b60 net/ipv4/tcp_input.c:5975
tcp_rcv_established+0x5b5/0x21f0 net/ipv4/tcp_input.c:6166
tcp_v4_do_rcv+0x5dc/0xa70 net/ipv4/tcp_ipv4.c:1925
tcp_v4_rcv+0x3473/0x44a0 net/ipv4/tcp_ipv4.c:2363
ip_protocol_deliver_rcu+0xba/0x480 net/ipv4/ip_input.c:205
ip_local_deliver_finish+0x2f1/0x500 net/ipv4/ip_input.c:233
NF_HOOK include/linux/netfilter.h:317 [inline]
NF_HOOK include/linux/netfilter.h:311 [inline]
ip_local_deliver+0x1be/0x560 net/ipv4/ip_input.c:254
dst_input include/net/dst.h:469 [inline]
ip_rcv_finish net/ipv4/ip_input.c:447 [inline]
NF_HOOK include/linux/netfilter.h:317 [inline]
NF_HOOK include/linux/netfilter.h:311 [inline]
ip_rcv+0x514/0x810 net/ipv4/ip_input.c:567
__netif_receive_skb_one_core+0x197/0x1e0 net/core/dev.c:5975
__netif_receive_skb+0x1f/0x120 net/core/dev.c:6088
process_backlog+0x301/0x1360 net/core/dev.c:6440
__napi_poll.constprop.0+0xba/0x550 net/core/dev.c:7453
napi_poll net/core/dev.c:7517 [inline]
net_rx_action+0xb44/0x1010 net/core/dev.c:7644
handle_softirqs+0x1d0/0x770 kernel/softirq.c:579
do_softirq+0x3f/0x90 kernel/softirq.c:480
__local_bh_enable_ip+0xed/0x110 kernel/softirq.c:407
local_bh_enable include/linux/bottom_half.h:33 [inline]
inet_csk_listen_stop+0x2c5/0x1070 net/ipv4/inet_connection_sock.c:1524
mptcp_check_listen_stop.part.0+0x1cc/0x220 net/mptcp/protocol.c:2985
mptcp_check_listen_stop net/mptcp/mib.h:118 [inline]
__mptcp_close+0x9b9/0xbd0 net/mptcp/protocol.c:3000
mptcp_close+0x2f/0x140 net/mptcp/protocol.c:3066
inet_release+0xed/0x200 net/ipv4/af_inet.c:435
inet6_release+0x4f/0x70 net/ipv6/af_inet6.c:487
__sock_release+0xb3/0x270 net/socket.c:649
sock_close+0x1c/0x30 net/socket.c:1439
__fput+0x402/0xb70 fs/file_table.c:465
task_work_run+0x150/0x240 kernel/task_work.c:227
resume_user_mode_work include/linux/resume_user_mode.h:50 [inline]
exit_to_user_mode_loop+0xd4
---truncated---
Weakness: CWE-667 (Improper Locking)
## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38491?
It affects 2 products.
Products: Debian Debian Linux, Linux kernel.
## How do I fix CVE-2025-38491?
Apply the vendor's patch.
## Is CVE-2025-38491 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38491 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-2025-38491 and fix it if it is affected.
What it is: CVE-2025-38491 is a high-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 28 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-2025-38491 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-2025-38491/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38491/index.md)
```
## Sources
- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-38491
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38491
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-38491
---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38491/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.