CVE-2025-37996: Linux kernel · KVM: arm64: Fix uninitialized memcache pointer in user_mem_abort()
Source GCVE Database
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 High.
Data as of 13 Nov 2026, 18:52 UTC
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 29 May 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 13 Nov 2026.
What to do
AI-suggested
The vulnerability has been resolved by ensuring the memcache pointer is always initialized in user_mem_abort(). Although no explicit patch links are provided, the fix is committed in the Linux kernel source. Users should update to a Linux kernel version that includes this fix once available. Since this is not a cloud service, manual patching is required.
Description
CVE-2025-37996 is a medium-severity vulnerability in the Linux kernel's KVM subsystem for arm64 architectures. It involves an uninitialized memcache pointer in the user_mem_abort() function, which can lead to a failure in stage-2 memory allocation. The issue arises from a code change that made memcache initialization conditional, leaving a code path where it is used uninitialized. This flaw affects the kernel's memory management during virtualization and can cause availability impact due to allocation failures.