# CVE-2025-38617: net/packet: fix a race in packet_set_ring() and packet_notifier()

> A race condition in the Linux kernel's packet socket implementation can lead to a denial of service when processing network device events.

- **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:** 22 Aug 2025
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-66608, AZL-73611, BELL-CVE-2025-38617, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38617, GHSA-g6xr-fxvq-ffp4, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-38617, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-38617, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-38617, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-38617, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-38617, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38617

## What is CVE-2025-38617?

CVE-2025-38617 is a high-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 22 Aug 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:

net/packet: fix a race in packet_set_ring() and packet_notifier()

When packet_set_ring() releases po->bind_lock, another thread can
run packet_notifier() and process an NETDEV_UP event.

This race and the fix are both similar to that of commit 15fe076edea7
("net/packet: fix a race in packet_bind() and packet_notifier()").

There too the packet_notifier NETDEV_UP event managed to run while a
po->bind_lock critical section had to be temporarily released. And
the fix was similarly to temporarily set po->num to zero to keep
the socket unhooked until the lock is retaken.

The po->bind_lock in packet_set_ring and packet_notifier precede the
introduction of git history.

Weakness: CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38617?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Debian Debian Linux, Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-38617?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-38617 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38617 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-2025-38617 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-38617 is a high-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 22 Aug 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-2025-38617 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-2025-38617/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38617/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-38617
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38617
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-38617

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38617/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.