VulnerabilityPublished 25 Jul 2025Updated 19 Nov 2025

CVE-2025-38449: Linux kernel · drm/gem: Acquire references on GEM handles for framebuffers

Source GCVE Database

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium.

Data as of 13 Nov 2026, 20:34 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

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 25 Jul 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.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

ghsa-p8xh-x6wj-7w7g

What to do

AI-suggested

No explicit patch links are provided in the input data. Until a fix is applied, avoid using drivers or configurations that trigger this issue, such as those employing shadow planes for dma-buf vmap during page flips. Monitor vendor channels for official fixes and apply them promptly once available.

Description

CVE-2025-38449 is a use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's DRM subsystem related to GEM handles for framebuffers. The flaw occurs because GEM handles can be released while still attached to DRM framebuffers, leading to the release of the dma-buf backing the buffer object. Subsequent use of the framebuffer in mode-setting operations can cause a kernel segmentation fault. This issue is triggered more easily by drivers using shadow planes for vmap-ing dma-buf during page flips. The vulnerability has been addressed by acquiring references on GEM handles to prevent premature release.

Impact

Exploitation of this vulnerability can cause a kernel segmentation fault leading to denial of service (system crash or instability). There is no indication of confidentiality or integrity impact. The flaw requires local access with low privileges and does not involve user interaction. It primarily affects system availability by crashing the kernel during mode-setting operations involving DRM framebuffers.

Summary

This vulnerability involves improper reference counting in the Linux kernel's Direct Rendering Manager (DRM) GEM subsystem. Specifically, GEM handles may be released while their associated GEM buffer objects remain attached to DRM framebuffers, causing the dma-buf backing the buffer to be freed prematurely. Attempts to use the framebuffer afterward result in segmentation faults, as demonstrated by kernel warning logs. The root cause is a missing acquisition of GEM handle references during framebuffer operations. The fix involves acquiring GEM handle references to ensure proper lifecycle management and prevent use-after-free conditions. The issue was exacerbated by commit 1a148af06000, which increased dma-buf usage. The vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.5 (medium severity) with local attack vector, low complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction, and impacts availability only.

CWE-416Use After Free (opens in a new tab)
Variant weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #7
The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.
Architecture and Design · Language Selection
Choose a language that provides automatic memory management.
Implementation · Attack Surface Reduction
When freeing pointers, be sure to set them to NULL once they are freed. However, the utilization of multiple or complex data structures may lower the usefulness of this strategy.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 13 Nov 2026, 20:34 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-416

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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