# CVE-2025-38501: ksmbd: limit repeated connections from clients with the same IP

> Attackers can exhaust ksmbd connection limits via repeated connections from a single IP, causing denial of service for legitimate users.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:** 16 Aug 2025
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-66416, BELL-CVE-2025-38501, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38501, GHSA-54w6-m43p-jffg, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-38501, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-38501, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-38501, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-38501, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38501

## What is CVE-2025-38501?

CVE-2025-38501 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 16 Aug 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:

ksmbd: limit repeated connections from clients with the same IP

Repeated connections from clients with the same IP address may exhaust
the max connections and prevent other normal client connections.
This patch limit repeated connections from clients with the same IP.

Weakness: CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38501?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Debian Debian Linux, Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-38501?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-38501 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2025-38501 exists.

Public exploit code:

- CVE-2025-38501, KSMBDrain (github_poc): https://github.com/keymaker-arch/KSMBDrain

## 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-2025-38501 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-38501 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 16 Aug 2025. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2025-38501 exists.

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-2025-38501/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38501/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-38501
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38501
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-38501

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38501/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.