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VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2025-38241: Linux kernel · mm/shmem, swap: fix softlockup with mTHP swapin

Source GCVE Database

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium.

Data as of 13 Nov 2026, 20:33 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
5.5Medium
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 9 Jul 2025

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponized: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq 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

A fix for this vulnerability has been implemented in the Linux kernel. Users should apply the official kernel update that includes this patch to resolve the soft lockup issue. Since the patch status is not explicitly stated in the input, verify with the vendor or kernel maintainers for the fixed kernel version and update accordingly. No other mitigation or workaround is indicated.

Description

CVE-2025-38241 is a medium severity vulnerability in the Linux kernel's memory management subsystem related to shmem and swap. It causes a soft lockup (CPU stuck) due to a conflict during the swapin of a transparent huge page (mTHP) folio. This results in a retry loop that leads to a system hang. The issue occurs when readahead brings an order 0 folio into the swap cache, conflicting with the mTHP folio allocation. The vulnerability has been fixed with a patch that applies a similar fix used for anonymous mTHP swapin. The performance impact of the fix is negligible.

References

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